tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/crowdfunding-4039/articlesCrowdfunding – The Conversation2023-10-23T20:25:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2155212023-10-23T20:25:29Z2023-10-23T20:25:29ZFrom messages on bombs to keychains made from downed Russian jets: Crowdfunding the war in Ukraine<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/from-messages-on-bombs-to-keychains-made-from-downed-russian-jets-crowdfunding-the-war-in-ukraine" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, its <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/2022-review-why-has-vladimir-putins-ukraine-invasion-gone-so-badly-wrong/">expectations of a quick and decisive victory evaporated quickly</a> as Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces proved more capable and resilient than anticipated. </p>
<p>Within the first few weeks following the invasion, weapons, humanitarian assistance and even volunteer fighters from around the world began pouring into Ukraine to stave off the Russian advance. </p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of aid came from the United States and Europe. As the war nears its two-year mark, the U.S. and other countries have contributed more than <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts">a hundred billion dollars in military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.</a> </p>
<p>But in the early days of the conflict, this astonishing amount of support was not a foregone conclusion, compelling Ukrainians to step up efforts to generate financial support.</p>
<h2>Ukrainians turned to crowdfunding</h2>
<p>Since the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/crimea-six-years-after-illegal-annexation/">annexation of Crimea in 2014</a>, Ukrainians have capitalized on the ability to raise funds through new crowdfunding technologies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-is-crowdfunding-to-shore-up-defense-against-russian-military-2022-2">Ad-hoc crowdsourcing efforts</a>, initially intended as stop-gap measures to support an underfunded Ukrainian military, have since coalesced into <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2023/0403/From-citizens-pockets-to-soldiers-hands-Ukraine-s-crowdfunded-war">major international fundraising campaigns</a> — some of which have raised <a href="https://okozaoko.okko.ua/en">millions of dollars.</a></p>
<p>Many of these initial efforts were largely operated by charity and non-profit organizations <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-019-00648-w">to support under-equipped</a> Ukrainian infantry and volunteer militias with a focus on small arms and personal protective equipment, including helmets and body armour. </p>
<p>Since 2014, the scope and demographic targets of crowdfunding efforts in Ukraine have expanded considerably. Tanks and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukrainian-pilots-launch-buy-me-a-fighter-jet-crowdfunding-campaign-2022-4">fighter jets</a> are now the goal, and crowdfunding campaigns are increasingly appealing to global citizens, not just Ukrainians.</p>
<h2>Winning a war 5 bucks at a time?</h2>
<p>While the money raised from crowdfunding efforts is relatively small compared to <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts">state-to-state</a> aid, the implications are far-reaching.</p>
<p>New online financial transaction platforms have essentially allowed citizens from around the world to contribute to the Ukrainian war effort, making the war more tangible and real for people who may be many thousands of miles away from the frontlines. </p>
<p>While donations to humanitarian causes are not new, what’s unique about Ukrainian crowdfunding efforts is that they are both humanitarian and military in nature. </p>
<p>People from around the world can spend money both to help fund the purchase of ambulances to save wounded civilians and to help purchase ammunition and weapons systems, including automatic grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.</p>
<p>The crowdfunding landscape pertaining to the war in Ukraine is extremely diverse, but not well-documented. And not all crowdfunding efforts are Ukrainian in origin. </p>
<p>In October 2022, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63121649">a Czech campaign raised enough money to purchase a T-72 tank for the Ukrainian army</a>. Similarly, a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-turkey-philanthropy-68e344ad462101a009dcd54b7a70dc88#">Lithuanian crowdfunding campaign raised six million euros to purchase a TB2 drone.</a> </p>
<h2>Trust, social capital, creativity</h2>
<p>The crowdfunding efforts in Ukraine are also unique not just in their scope, but <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/07/27/how-crowdfunding-is-shaping-the-war-in-ukraine">in their success</a>. Two factors help explain those successes.</p>
<p>The first has to do with public trust and social capital. For a country that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/feb/04/welcome-to-the-most-corrupt-nation-in-europe-ukraine">struggled with corruption in the aftermath of the Cold War,</a> the international success of crowdfunding campaigns suggests a big shift in international and public perception of modern-day Ukraine.</p>
<p>The fact that crowdfunding campaigns have successfully raised millions of dollars suggests a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3361748">high degree of trust</a> in those who are donating. People aren’t likely to donate money if they don’t believe their donation will be used for its stated purpose.</p>
<p>This remarkable degree of trust has, in part, been facilitated by the presence of significant social capital inside, and outside, of Ukraine. Hollywood actors like <a href="https://u24.gov.ua/dronation">Mark Hamill</a> have become the face of many campaigns appealing to western demographics while activists and volunteers like <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/founder-come-back-alive-foundation-225400644.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFCeLBB_d2APEP9wMlTtDSoV1uKcEbQMD5gEB1inwhzk6OPc_8t9U93WBRGx-rBCYS_VUkh8hD_8N-veDfo0dnlsbUz9Jfli4I9R42CBbKjuGYEY1-AJ4BY6iWu5kZn2fDfZcXbCzgwSqJrPF6f9EyoUldoZQEzr3qD2mW6v_Elx">Vitaliy Deynega, the founder of the Come Back Alive charity organization</a>, have become fixtures in Ukraine. </p>
<p>Fundraising and donation platforms have essentially enabled people from around the world to help fund a war. </p>
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<p>Secondly, the types of campaigns being employed are highly creative and diverse, capitalizing on popular culture <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/world/middleeast/ukraine-memes-russia-fundraising.html">and memes</a> to build on anti-Russian sentiment. </p>
<p>Giving people the chance to help buy fighter jets, write <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/17/ukraine-russia-bombs-slogans-fundraising/">messages on bombs aimed at Russian troops</a> or buy pieces of scrap <a href="https://www.dronesforukraine.fund/su-34-keychain">turned into keychains</a> from downed Russian fighter jets personalizes the war for people who may be thousands of miles from the frontlines. </p>
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<h2>Democratizing war</h2>
<p>Nonetheless, the participation of foreign nationals in funding war efforts highlights a number of important issues regarding how technologies shape our relationship to conflict. The potential ramifications are significant. </p>
<p>Once the tightly controlled <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/new-crowdsourcing-campaign-can-help-save-ukraine/">domain of national governments</a>, Ukrainians and foreign nationals can now directly help in the purchase of military equipment. </p>
<p>As these technologies become more ubiquitous and play a more prominent role, they will be increasingly difficult to manage and regulate. </p>
<p>There are concerns about fraud <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/https-kyivindependent-com-ukrainian-government-discovers-theft-of-foreign-aid/">and corruption</a>, too, especially amid the disinformation environment that is rampant on social media — the primary way that these campaigns are created and disseminated.</p>
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<p><em>I would like to acknowledge the significant role that my research assistant, Kateryna Kuzmuk, had in collecting this data.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Rice does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ad-hoc crowdsourcing efforts amid the Ukraine war, initially intended as stop-gap measures to support an underfunded Ukrainian military, have since coalesced into major global fundraising campaigns.Jeffrey Rice, Assistant Professor, Political Science, MacEwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064392023-05-31T21:26:23Z2023-05-31T21:26:23ZDaniel Penny’s GiveSendGo campaign: Crowdfunding primarily benefits the most privileged<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528707/original/file-20230528-147502-41rsji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=315%2C0%2C3079%2C2254&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Daniel Penny, centre, is walked by New York Police Department detectives out of a Manhattan precinct in May 2023. He was charged with manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A former United States Marine was recently charged with second-degree manslaughter <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/20/daniel-penny-breaks-silence-on-jordan-neely-nyc-subway-death/">for fatally choking a 30-year-old Black man, Jordan Neely, on a New York subway train</a>. </p>
<p>A GiveSendGo <a href="https://www.givesendgo.com/daniel_penny">crowdfunding campaign</a> has raised over $2.8 million from 57,000 donations for Daniel Penny’s legal expenses. It’s the <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/marine-vet-daniel-penny-givesendgo-legal-defense-fund-sites-second-biggest-campaign">second largest</a> fundraiser on that platform. </p>
<p>While many people on the left have <a href="https://twitter.com/FredTJoseph/status/1657731710824456195">expressed dismay</a> at the success of this fundraiser, GiveSendGo isn’t necessarily wrong to host it. </p>
<p>What’s more objectionable about this campaign isn’t so much that it helps someone defend himself in court but what it demonstrates about the larger, and highly inequitable, enterprise of crowdfunding itself.</p>
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<h2>Violent crime ban</h2>
<p>Penny’s fundraiser was likely created on GiveSendGo rather than the much larger and better known GoFundMe website because GoFundMe <a href="https://medium.com/gofundme-stories/gofundme-policy-on-fundraisers-for-the-legal-defense-of-violent-crimes-975aff8ba5f6">has a policy</a> against allowing fundraisers for the legal defence of people accused of violent crimes. </p>
<p>After Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with the death of two Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, GoFundMe announced a policy banning campaigns for the “<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/c/terms">legal defence of alleged financial and violent crimes</a>.” </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A round-faced dark-haired young man closes his eyes tightly." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528708/original/file-20230528-158323-uyhxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Kyle Rittenhouse closes his eyes and cries as he is found not guilty on all counts in Kenosha, Wis., in November 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP, Pool)</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://time.com/6150317/givesendgo-trucker-convoy-canada-profits/">This has made GiveSendGo a home</a> for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/13/daniel-penny-jordan-neely-defense-fund">right-wing legal causes</a>, including legal defence funds for Rittenhouse, police officers accused of homicide, Jan. 6 rioters, Canada’s so-called Freedom Convoy activists and, most recently, Penny. </p>
<p>In many cases these fundraisers have been enormously successful, raising hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-gofundme-violating-its-own-terms-of-service-on-the-freedom-convoy-176147">Is GoFundMe violating its own terms of service on the 'freedom convoy?'</a>
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<p>There are many compelling reasons to condemn the kinds of crowdfunding campaigns that GiveSendGo often hosts. Its lax moderation policies have made it home to a wide range of activities and organizations that spread <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-research-finds-extremists-and-bigots-raise-millions-dollars-through">hate and bigotry, harming specific groups</a>. </p>
<p>But helping people accused of violent crimes to defend themselves in court is a different matter. Legal defence and due process in the courts are a basic civil right. While many of us find Penny’s actions horrific and welcome the charge of manslaughter against him, it’s his right to defend himself in court and to access legal counsel to do so.</p>
<h2>Unfair advantage</h2>
<p>Nonetheless, Penny’s fundraiser shows crowdfunding is a wildly unfair way of securing this and other rights. </p>
<p>It was initiated by his legal team even before charges were laid against him. He has benefited from the politicization of his actions and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/14/nyregion/daniel-penny-jordan-neely-conservative.html">wide support on the political right</a>, including calls to support the fundraiser from politicians like <a href="https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1657212176178855939">Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis</a> and Republican congressman <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1657145179306950657">Matt Gaetz</a>. </p>
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<p>After Penny was charged with manslaughter, funds began pouring into the 24-year-old’s campaign, helped by exposure on mainstream and social media. As a result, Penny will have the finest legal defence money can buy, likely with ample money left over.</p>
<p>This isn’t the case for the vast majority of people accused of crimes — violent or otherwise — who are equally deserving of effective legal counsel. </p>
<p>Most crowdfunding campaigns <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13568">fall well short of their goals</a>. White beneficiaries generally <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab076">fare better</a> than Black and other racialized minorities, and people in relatively wealthy and well-educated communities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229760">raise more money</a> than those in less affluent areas. </p>
<p>All campaigners rely on networks of donors for support. People with more privileged networks can expect better outcomes than people in positions of greater relative need. </p>
<h2>Campaigns with no support</h2>
<p>What this means is that crowdfunding isn’t a fair means for people accused of violent crimes to pay for their legal defence.</p>
<p>For every Daniel Penny or Kyle Rittenhouse, there are thousands of campaigns that get little or no public support. </p>
<p>Perhaps their alleged crimes are abhorrent and people would have no interest in financially supporting those accused of them. But the bottom line is that some of these people are innocent of the crimes they’re accused of and, regardless, everyone is deserving of an effective legal defence. </p>
<p>In the United States and most other democracies, all people in principle have access to public defenders and their basic right to legal due process is secured in this way. But the reality is that public defenders are often <a href="https://stateline.org/2022/06/21/public-defenders-were-scarce-before-covid-its-much-worse-now/">under-resourced</a>, <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/if-you-care-about-freedom-you-should-be-asking-why-we-dont-fund-our-public-defender-systems">overburdened</a>, and struggle to provide their clients with effective counsel even with their best efforts. </p>
<p>In other cases, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/is-this-the-worst-place-to-be-poor-and-charged-with-a-federal-crime">these defenders fail</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/17/poor-rely-public-defenders-too-overworked">outright</a> in their duties to their clients. </p>
<p>That means a defendant with a multi-million-dollar legal fund is in a wildly different position than the much larger mass of people navigating public defender systems. </p>
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<img alt="College graduates in blue robes hold up anti-racism signs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528709/original/file-20230528-201140-yysxz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528709/original/file-20230528-201140-yysxz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528709/original/file-20230528-201140-yysxz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528709/original/file-20230528-201140-yysxz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528709/original/file-20230528-201140-yysxz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528709/original/file-20230528-201140-yysxz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528709/original/file-20230528-201140-yysxz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">College graduates hold signs reading ‘A Black child was lynched yesterday! Jordan Neely’ and ‘Stand up, Fight Back, Black People Under Attack’ as U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at Howard University’s commencement in Washington, D.C., in May 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)</span></span>
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<h2>Reputational damage</h2>
<p>GoFundMe’s decision to ban campaigns for the legal defence of people accused of violent crimes was likely driven by reputational concerns rather than principle. </p>
<p>It’s understandable that a company that brands itself as <a href="https://medium.com/gofundme-stories/how-gofundme-will-accelerate-progress-towards-our-vision-to-be-the-most-helpful-place-in-the-world-b1e60c95009e">the most helpful place in the world</a> doesn’t want to invite criticism for hosting high-profile campaigns for police officers who killed Black Americans during arrests, political insurrectionists and people who shoot racial justice protesters. </p>
<p>We can question the priorities and values of donors who enthusiastically support primarily white defendants accused of violence against protesters and people experiencing mental health crises while ignoring others in need. </p>
<p>But helping people secure due process in the courts is a noble goal, as are crowdfunding campaigns that help pay for medical care, housing and education. </p>
<p>The problem is that crowdfunding operates largely as a popularity contest, distributing help in deeply inequitable ways. That, among other things, is what Penny’s campaign reveals: Leaving it up to the public to pick who should have access to basic rights leads to deeply unfair outcomes. </p>
<p>If people on the left and right can agree that a legal defence is something everyone deserves, then we should also agree that crowdfunding isn’t the way to secure this right.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Snyder receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Greenwall Foundation. </span></em></p>Helping people secure due process in the courts is a noble goal. But the problem with crowdfunding campaigns is that they largely operate as popularity contests.Jeremy Snyder, Professor, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961042022-12-21T20:08:06Z2022-12-21T20:08:06ZShould you answer a call to crowdfund our under-resourced teachers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502233/original/file-20221220-13-vpj8cs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=114%2C13%2C1418%2C1004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Quinta Brunson, creator and actor of the show 'Abbott Elementary,' uses TikTok to fundraise for school supplies. Although it's a sitcom, it's talking about the real-life needs of under-resourced teachers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Quinta Brunson for ABC)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/should-you-answer-a-call-to-crowdfund-our-under-resourced-teachers" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In an episode of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15715994/"><em>Abbott Elementary</em></a>, the sitcom about a group of teachers in an under-resourced Philadelphia school, novice teacher Janine takes to TikTok. The joke is that she needs to use TikTok to fundraise to get her classroom much needed school supplies.</p>
<p>Although played for laughs in <a href="https://www.emmys.com/shows/abbott-elementary">this award-winning</a> show created by Quinta Brunson, one education <a href="https://theeducatorsroom.com/abbott-elementary-the-dreaded-teacher-wishlist/">blogger</a> wrote: “In tonight’s episode … we learned the lesson that all teachers know — schools are underfunded, and [supply] wishlists have the ability to make teachers REALLY happy.”</p>
<p>Actually, crowdfunding for schools in real life can provide immediate and necessary resources. There is even early research to say that crowdfunding leads to better learning outcomes for students. </p>
<p>In this season of giving, that is something to think about as you decide where to put your money.</p>
<p>Although individual donations cannot compensate for the structural conditions of general underfunding and inequitable funding of public schools, a crowdfunded teacher’s classroom may have better outcomes than one that is not.</p>
<h2>Diverse learning needs</h2>
<p>One study from California showed how extra funds from teacher crowdfunding efforts allowed teachers to run projects that fully address the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437211033536">diverse learning needs of their students</a>.</p>
<p>Another study shows how educators’ crowdfunding efforts are linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2020.0968">higher test scores</a> for students, even when the crowdfunding is unsuccessful.</p>
<p>However, any benefits of crowdfunding in education should not gloss over the fact that there is a systematic lack of public support for public education teachers. <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/public-education-funding-in-the-us-needs-an-overhaul/">This is especially relevant for the most under-resourced schools: those that serve low-income communities,</a> both urban and <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1286832.pdf">rural.</a></p>
<p>This is part of the broader crisis in public education.</p>
<h2>Pervasive under-resourcing of schools</h2>
<p>To meet the needs of their students and classrooms, educators in the United States have been paying out-of-pocket or using private sponsors to pay for books, <a href="https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/teachers-paying-ed-tech-pockets-survey-finds/">software</a>, pencils and paper, classroom decorations, prizes, snacks and even <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/teachers-pay-out-of-pocket-to-keep-their-classrooms-clean-of-covid-19-teachers-already-spend-on-average-450-a-year-on-school-supplies/">cleaning supplies</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teacher seen sitting at a desk cutting things with a laptop behind her on a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501688/original/file-20221218-26-qlfedr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1219%2C3842%2C2703&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501688/original/file-20221218-26-qlfedr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501688/original/file-20221218-26-qlfedr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501688/original/file-20221218-26-qlfedr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501688/original/file-20221218-26-qlfedr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501688/original/file-20221218-26-qlfedr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501688/original/file-20221218-26-qlfedr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A teacher sits in her classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/out-pocket-spending-school-supplies-adds-strain-educators">According to an estimate by the National Education Association,</a> 90 per cent of teachers spend money on their students. This year, many will spend an average of US$820, which is a $500 increase since before the pandemic.</p>
<p>No wonder educators are turning to crowdfunding sites, like <a href="https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/19-michigan-educators-chosen-for-clear-the-list-campaign">Amazon Wishlists</a> and DonorsChoose, the not-for-profit crowdfunder which makes “it easy for anyone to <a href="https://www.donorschoose.org/about">help a teacher in need</a>.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tiktok-is-more-than-just-a-frivolous-app-for-lip-syncing-and-dancing-podcast-182264">TikTok is more than just a frivolous app for lip-syncing and dancing – Podcast</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In a sign of support for teachers, as well as to take a stand on the dismal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12210">state of funding for education in the U.S.</a>, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) <a href="https://www.aft.org/press-release/aft-fulfills-400000-donorschoose-requests-school-supplies-teachers">donated $400,000</a> to educators through DonorsChoose in March 2022. </p>
<p>At the time of the donation, AFT President Randi Weingarten said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We’re spreading hope and expressing gratitude to teachers and school staff who’ve sacrificed so much to ensure a better life for our children and our communities. And we’re also shining a spotlight on decades of underfunding and the urgent need to invest in our kids and the schools they attend.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Job satisfaction is dropping; strikes are increasing</h2>
<p>The teaching profession was already facing challenges before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic intensified stressors on educators and the public school system. Similar to Canada, teachers in the U.S. face <a href="https://files.epi.org/pdf/165729.pdf">low salaries</a> as well as inadequate resources for academic programming, <a href="https://okpolicy.org/support-staff-pay-raise-and-restoring-cuts-is-key-to-improving-oklahomas-schools/">support staff</a> and social supports. Staffing shortages among teachers that began prior to the pandemic are now reaching <a href="https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2022-10/29302-solving-educator-shortage-report-final-oct-11-2022.pdf">crisis</a> levels. </p>
<p>Contributing to these challenges is the fact that public schools are increasingly sites of <a href="https://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/educating-for-a-diverse-democracy/publications/files/diverse-democracy-report">political conflict</a>, as conservative activists and state legislatures take aim at, among other things, how to teach about race and LGBTQ+ rights and contest books stocked in classrooms and libraries.</p>
<p>Among public educators, job satisfaction is low. </p>
<p>As a testament to the dissatisfaction of educators being asked to do too much with too little, 2022 saw another <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/why-teachers-are-going-on-strike-this-fall-and-what-could-come-next/2022/09">wave of strikes</a> among K-12 teachers’ unions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Striking education workers seen with picket signs walking on a sidewalk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501686/original/file-20221218-20-g9ikip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501686/original/file-20221218-20-g9ikip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501686/original/file-20221218-20-g9ikip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501686/original/file-20221218-20-g9ikip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501686/original/file-20221218-20-g9ikip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501686/original/file-20221218-20-g9ikip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501686/original/file-20221218-20-g9ikip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers from Roosevelt High School in Seattle picket during a strike over pay, mental health support and staffing ratios, September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jason Redmond)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Strike demands include pay increases; resources for academic programming; smaller class sizes; investment in counsellors, nurses and social workers; and addressing <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/teacher-strike-columbus-ohio-air-conditioning-students-rcna44849">hot and poorly ventilated classrooms</a>, among other issues. </p>
<p>Educators also continue to leave the profession. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/out-pocket-spending-school-supplies-adds-strain-educators">report</a> from the National Education Association identifies under-resourcing and the expectation that educators will spend their personal money as factors driving educators away from the profession.</p>
<h2>Public school system needs investments</h2>
<p>Canada is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/provinces-should-act-fast-to-avert-a-teacher-shortage-now-and-after-covid-19-154930">seeing educators leaving the profession</a> and increased strike mobilization. In both countries, these are signs that the people doing the critical work of education feel that their conditions of work are unsustainable. </p>
<p>The benefits of a good public education system include a healthy community and democracy and therefore we need to ensure that students have access to them. Crowdfunding is one solution to help fill immediate resource shortages. At the same time, we also need to demand policies that make necessary investments in our public schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196104/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel K. Brickner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Gifting teachers through crowdfunding sites may make an immediate difference but can’t compensate for underfunding and inequitable funding of public schools.Rachel K. Brickner, Professor of Politics, Acadia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952792022-12-04T12:36:31Z2022-12-04T12:36:31ZPro-choice crowdfunding has surged in the U.S. — but donating that way has risks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498049/original/file-20221129-13745-wc1ghw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C97%2C5912%2C3221&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Abortion rights protesters attend a rally outside the Michigan capitol building on June 24, 2022, following the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf"><em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</em></a> decision by the United States Supreme Court earlier this year overturned constitutional protections of reproductive choice for Americans.</p>
<p>The ruling sparked protests, political action and outreach to women affected by the decision, including <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donations-us-abortion-rights-groups-clinics-surge-after-supreme-court-leak-2022-05-04/">a flood</a> of financial contributions to pro-choice organizations and causes.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding campaigns have been part of the story of financial support for reproductive justice in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision. But while these campaigns have been massively successful by the standards of crowdfunding, they also raise significant concerns.</p>
<h2>Repercussions</h2>
<p>Financial needs arising from the <em>Dobbs</em> decision are acute. In addition to money for political and legal activism at the federal and state levels, women in states with newly restrictive abortion laws have been forced to cross state lines to access reproductive services. </p>
<p>These needs require support that may not be available from employers and insurance companies, particularly against a backdrop of policy change and legal uncertainty. </p>
<p>Women travelling to seek reproductive care as a result of <em>Dobbs</em> <a href="https://sites.utexas.edu/txpep/files/2022/03/TxPEP-out-of-state-SB8.pdf">have reported</a> being forced to take out loans or dip into their savings, and are struggling to pay rent and other bills. </p>
<p>In the two months after the <em>Dobbs</em> decision, approximately <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/overturning-roe-has-meant-at-least-10000-fewer-legal-abortions/">10,000 fewer</a> legal abortions took place in the U.S. By the end of October 2022, at least <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/2022/10/100-days-post-roe-least-66-clinics-across-15-us-states-have-stopped-offering-abortion-care">66 U.S. abortion providers had closed</a>. </p>
<p>Clinics in states with newly restrictive laws must now seek legal advice about whether they can remain open while also exploring relocating to more permissive states. </p>
<p>Given these new realities, many people have been moved to donate to women in need of abortions, funds and organizations that provide access to abortion, and political and legal advocacy groups that work to protect reproductive choice. </p>
<h2>Influx of funds</h2>
<p>The National Network of Abortion Funds, for example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/24/us/abortion-funds-donations-roe.html">says it received</a> US$1.5 million the week the <em>Dobbs</em> decision was leaked in May 2022, and more than US$3 million from 33,000 donors on June 24, 2022, the day of the Supreme Court ruling.</p>
<p>Social media has been key to organizing online giving as well — activist Olivia Julianna <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/olivia-julianna-abortion-fundraiser-trolled-matt-gaetz-2-million-dollars-2022-8">helped raise</a> more than $2.3 million for the <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/genzforchoice">Gen-Z for Choice Abortion Fund</a> after being body-shamed by Republican representative Matt Gaetz.</p>
<p>While the majority of this fundraising activity has taken the form of direct donations to individuals and organizations, others have used crowdfunding to facilitate giving. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1553832229255761922"}"></div></p>
<h2>A surge in donations</h2>
<p>My preliminary research has found that between May 2, 2022 — when the <em>Dobbs</em> decision was <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473">first leaked</a> — and the Nov. 8, 2022 midterm elections in the U.S., 308 American crowdfunding campaigns on the GoFundMe platform raised almost US$3.2 million from more than 41,000 donations.</p>
<p>This included money for campaigns for abortion access funds like the National Network of Abortion Funds, organizations and protest movements seeking to protect and expand reproductive rights and women seeking abortion access.</p>
<p>Recent giving through crowdfunding is markedly different than abortion-related crowdfunding prior to <em>Dobbs</em>. When a colleague and I looked at these fundraisers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-020-00938-2">in 2018</a>, we only identified five campaigns for abortion funds compared to 226 following the <em>Dobbs</em> ruling. The 2018 fundraisers were also much more focused on individuals.</p>
<p>In addition to being more focused on pro-choice organizations, the recent abortion rights fundraisers are also much more successful than earlier abortion access campaigns. In 2018, campaigns seeking to provide abortion access averaged four donors with US$138.82 pledged per campaign, whereas the post-<em>Dobbs</em> campaigns attracted an average of 135 donors with US$10,300 pledged per campaign. </p>
<p>And while only 25 per cent of earlier campaigns received a donation, every one of the post-<em>Dobbs</em> campaigns received support.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a mask that says bans off our bodies carries a sign that reads Keep Your Religion Out of my Uterus." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498043/original/file-20221129-24-bkkrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498043/original/file-20221129-24-bkkrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498043/original/file-20221129-24-bkkrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498043/original/file-20221129-24-bkkrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498043/original/file-20221129-24-bkkrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498043/original/file-20221129-24-bkkrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498043/original/file-20221129-24-bkkrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester outside the Kentucky Supreme Court chambers rallies in favour of abortion rights. Crowdfunding donations to abortion rights campaigns have dramatically increased since 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Campaign organizers at risk?</h2>
<p>On the face of it, this is good news for proponents of reproductive choice, as it shows that crowdfunding can be part of a larger effort to support this cause. </p>
<p>But crowdfunding is an imperfect means of organizing this support. </p>
<p>Being successful in crowdfunding typically requires putting personal details online. This can include who is doing the fundraising, why it’s needed and where the money will go. In the case of women seeking an abortion, this means giving the public access to deeply personal information at an emotionally vulnerable moment. </p>
<p>Even for those fundraising on behalf of an organization or abortion access fund, crowdfunding can mean putting a public target on their backs to people who view abortion as the moral equivalent of murder.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding platforms also act as intermediaries between campaigners and donors, shaping how money is paid out — or whether campaigns are allowed at all. Platforms could decide not to host abortion-related campaigns if they’re opposed to abortion rights or fear that supporting those rights will draw unwanted attention. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-gofundme-violating-its-own-terms-of-service-on-the-freedom-convoy-176147">Is GoFundMe violating its own terms of service on the 'freedom convoy?'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Crowdfunding restrictions</h2>
<p>This isn’t a hypothetical concern.</p>
<p>GoFundMe <a href="https://www.salon.com/2014/09/10/gofundme_bans_all_content_relating_to_abortion_but_leaves_antiabortion_campaigns_active/">temporarily banned</a> campaigns to pay for abortion in 2014, and the right-wing Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo currently <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/givesendgo-crowdfunding-extremism/">restricts campaigns for abortion access</a>. </p>
<p>While GoFundMe is currently home to a wide range of abortion rights campaigns, many American states <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/03/us/abortion-help-travel-out-of-state-online-offers/index.html">are exploring</a> <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3536720-the-right-to-travel-to-seek-an-abortion-in-a-post-dobbs-world/">legal</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/abortion-state-lines/">action</a> to prevent and potentially prosecute people facilitating abortions. </p>
<p>These actions create legal exposure for crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and, as a for-profit company, it could easily choose to restrict these campaigns in its own self-interest.</p>
<p>In short, crowdfunding encourages giving but also adds new barriers. Giving directly to abortion rights groups and pro-choice organizations helps avoid some of these problems while still making giving easy. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A protester holds up a sign that reads We Will Not Go Back." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498056/original/file-20221129-7082-y1xnou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An abortion rights supporter protests at the Mississippi Capitol. Crowdfunding can encourage donations but also poses new obstacles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Direct giving can also allow these organizations to develop relationships with donors that may be sustained beyond the initial outrage of the <em>Dobbs</em> decision. Online crowdfunding uses social media to increase the visibility of giving and encourage others to help, but people who want to make their support public and encourage giving online can still choose to do so. </p>
<p>While crowdfunding campaigns are well-intentioned and have done a great deal of good, there are thankfully less compromised venues for support available.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Snyder does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Crowdfunding campaigns are well-intentioned and have done a great deal of good on the abortion rights front, but there are less compromised venues for support available.Jeremy Snyder, Professor, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1833332022-07-18T12:27:13Z2022-07-18T12:27:13ZPolitical crowdfunding does more than raise money – it can also rile up opponents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474371/original/file-20220715-16-3ibpqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C3685%2C4898&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crowdfunding can be a great way to raise money for political candidates and causes, but it can also have unintended consequences.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/hands-holding-out-money-one-hand-receiving-royalty-free-image/164836146">Joos Mind/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The success of politicians in the U.S. largely depends on the amount of funding they receive from various sources. Although <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/">political action committees contribute considerably to elections</a>, a recent survey showed that <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/small-donor-public-financing-could-advance-race-and-gender-equity">grassroots contributions</a> – gifts under US$200 – are equally crucial and contribute a sizable amount. Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign raised <a href="http://www.cfinst.org/Press/PReleases/17-02-21/President_Trump_with_RNC_Help_Raised_More_Small_Donor_Money_than_President_Obama_As_Much_As_Clinton_and_Sanders_Combined.aspx">69% of its funding</a> from small donors.</p>
<p>Traditionally, volunteers went door to door to solicit donations from individuals. Today, politicians use social media to encourage their supporters to donate and eventually vote for them. Many politicians such as senators Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz have turned to this sort of political crowdfunding.</p>
<p>The primary objective of political crowdfunding is to assist politicians in raising funds directly from individual donors. However, it’s also crucial for assessing the acceptance of politicians’ political agendas among potential supporters. Crowdfunding can reach and create loyalty from a much broader group than a party’s usual base, while minimizing the party’s and donors’ time and effort.</p>
<p>Although political crowdfunding is potentially becoming a way to build a strong sense of community, the impact of these campaigns may go far beyond that. These campaigns often focus on socially divisive partisan issues such as gun control and climate change. Discussions on these issues can influence potential supporters to develop highly polarized opinions on partisan issues.</p>
<p>As a computer scientist who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=A0_KDngAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">researches social media and persuasion</a>, I’ve studied whether casual exposure to political crowdfunding campaigns might create a long-lasting sense of disapproval on partisan issues, even when those issues are not being discussed as part of a political fundraising campaign. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I found that casual exposure to these campaigns <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3502084">can influence people’s opinions</a> on politically sensitive issues such as climate change. These influences can stay active for many days and can influence people’s decisions on the same topic, even when it is not discussed by a politician in a political campaign.</p>
<h2>Lasting influence of political crowdfunding campaigns</h2>
<p>Our team recruited subjects from <a href="https://www.mturk.com/">Amazon Mechanical Turk</a>, an online platform for hiring people according to various criteria. We hired them in two groups: the first group supported the Democratic Party, and the other group supported the Republican Party. </p>
<p>We first showed all of our subjects a political crowdfunding campaign of a politician from the political party that they did not support. This process allowed us to present the argument about climate change from a particular perspective we believed the subjects would not naturally support because of their political ideology. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A webpage showing a photograph of a young man holding a sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474370/original/file-20220715-20-j3x4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Crowdfunding pages like this one can help raise money from people who support climate action, but they can also energize opponents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">screenshot by Sanorita Dey</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>After this casual exposure to a political crowdfunding campaign, we notified the subjects that the study was completed. In reality, we recruited the same group of people after 10 days as part of a new study, and this time they were asked to consider an online charitable event indirectly related to climate change. </p>
<p>Subjects who supported the Democratic Party were asked to guess a donation amount that they would be comfortable to pledge for a movement where organizers were trying to help people who lost their jobs in closed coal mines because of the climate action law. Supporters of the Republican Party were asked to do the same task of guessing the appropriate donation amount, but the movement was about planting trees in Central America to stop the effects of severe deforestation. </p>
<p>Both groups refused to donate any money to their assigned cause. Initially, we found this result disappointing but not surprising, considering that we were challenging their fundamental beliefs on climate change. However, we decided to take a second look at our findings when our team did the same experiment one more time with a new group of people. </p>
<p>This time we did not show a political crowdfunding campaign to any of the subjects. Instead, we showed them a news article about a politician, although the article did not show any information about the donation amount received by the politician from the supporters. All other details of these two experiments were the same. This time, to our surprise, subjects did not hesitate to donate a sizable amount to charitable movements irrespective of their political ideology.</p>
<p>This made us wonder whether and how the casual exposure to the political crowdfunding campaign influenced the first group of subjects who took a rather challenging decision of not donating anything to the charitable movements. After close observation, we concluded that it was not the content. Rather, it was the structure of the political crowdfunding campaigns that left a long-lasting influence on our subjects. </p>
<p>The political crowdfunding campaign not only presented the perspective of the politician on climate change but also showed how much money had been donated to that campaign. The clear signal of a significant amount of support for a politician from the supporters of the opposition party influenced their future actions, including decisions to donate, related to climate change movements. Although the news article presented the same arguments about climate change, it did not noticeably influence the second group of subjects because it did not show a direct signal of support in the form of monetary donations.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Political crowdfunding is widely considered a new and <a href="https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/online-political-crowdfunding.pdf">convenient medium for raising funding from grassroots supporters</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531678">Most studies</a> on crowdfunding have focused on strategies that can raise more money from a diverse audience. Our study examined the impact of such campaigns on people’s opinions on partisan topics.</p>
<p>Our research suggests that people’s opinions can become polarized based on information they see in surprising places, and that impact can last for an extended period of time. The implications of our findings are critical because they suggest that people can double down on their views rather than considering the merits of a position when they are processing information from online platforms – especially on sensitive and divisive issues such as climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183333/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sanorita Dey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Crowdfunding has become a go-to means of raising money for political causes, but the monetary show of support can cause opponents to double down on their opposition.Sanorita Dey, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1786322022-03-09T00:41:39Z2022-03-09T00:41:39ZCrowdfunding disaster relief offers hope in desperate times. But who gets left behind?<p>At least <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-floods-have-killed-at-least-21-australians-adapting-to-a-harsher-climate-is-now-a-life-or-death-matter-178761">21 people</a> have been killed in the devastating floods across Queensland and New South Wales. Many have lost everything they own, in part due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/victims-of-nsw-and-queensland-floods-have-lodged-60-000-claims-but-too-many-are-underinsured-heres-a-better-way-178294">vicious cycles of underinsurance</a>.</p>
<p>The destruction will also worsen the already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/07/beyond-dire-how-the-queensland-and-nsw-floods-are-worsening-the-rental-crisis?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">“beyond dire” housing crisis</a>. Some will have no choice but to move elsewhere and leave behind existing social ties. Rebuilding will take years, and local communities may never be the same.</p>
<p>It is perhaps no wonder, then, that people turn to crowdfunding to help those affected.</p>
<p>But while the urge to create such crowdfunding campaigns, or donate to one, is understandable and admirable, it is worth asking: who can succeed in crowdfunding, and who gets left behind?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-floods-have-killed-at-least-21-australians-adapting-to-a-harsher-climate-is-now-a-life-or-death-matter-178761">The floods have killed at least 21 Australians. Adapting to a harsher climate is now a life-or-death matter</a>
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<h2>Even a federal MP passes the hat around</h2>
<p>Already, over a thousand crowdfunding campaigns related to the floods can be found on GoFundMe alone, with more on Australia-based crowdfunding platforms like MyCause and Chuffed.</p>
<p>One campaign is federal MP Peter Dutton’s, <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/pine-rivers-flood-relief">raising funds</a> for affected people in his electorate of Dickson.</p>
<p>Though perhaps well-meaning, this was woefully ill-considered. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/27/isnt-this-the-role-of-government-peter-dutton-panned-for-setting-up-fundraiser-for-flood-victims">Among other complaints</a>, observers expressed frustration a federal MP would be passing the hat around, rather than focusing his energy on pulling government levers to distribute aid.</p>
<p>For many, Dutton’s campaign reflected a wider lack of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-floods-have-killed-at-least-21-australians-adapting-to-a-harsher-climate-is-now-a-life-or-death-matter-178761%22%22">planning and urgency</a> to mitigate extreme weather events, but it also reveals the everyday normalisation of crowdfunding.</p>
<p>What does it say about the role of government, the reciprocal duties of citizens, and how we can best support each other in difficult times, when no less than the federal defence minister turns to crowdfunding?</p>
<h2>Flying choppers and rising anger</h2>
<p>One of the most prevalent themes of these floods – perhaps even more evident than previous disasters – is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/05/catastrophic-failure-fury-among-nsw-northern-rivers-locals-forgotten-by-authorities">abandonment and rage</a> felt by those affected, who have judged the federal and state response to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/03/fears-for-indigenous-community-of-nsw-island-as-anger-rises-about-government-response">despairingly inadequate</a>.</p>
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<p>Compounding this despair are sentiments of distrust towards both federal and state governments. Perceptions of misplaced priorities are driving these suspicions, as evident in <a href="https://twitter.com/liammendes/status/1499906439275773953">critiques of policing actions</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/07/adf-defends-floods-response-after-lismore-residents-organise-helicopters-for-supply-drops">ill-timed photo-ops by the ADF</a>.</p>
<p>Evoking memories of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-05/scott-morrison-criticised-for-political-ads-during-bushfires/11841458">government responses to the Black Summer bushfires</a>, there are concerns the slick imagery of relief was coming before the relief itself.</p>
<p>Of course, there have been exhaustive and heroic efforts among <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10563005/The-heroes-Australias-flooding-disaster-Fijian-workers-rescued-DOZENS-trapped-Aussies.html">SES volunteers</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/03/a-faint-call-for-help-remarkable-stories-emerge-from-nsw-flood-rescues">police</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-01/incredible-moment-people-are-winched-off-roof-filmed/100871462">ADF</a> personnel, and other emergency workers. </p>
<p>Also heartening has been the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/02/flood-of-help-how-the-nsw-and-queensland-disaster-has-brought-neighbours-closer-together">spontaneous co-operative efforts</a> among <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/01/everyone-got-supper-drivers-stranded-by-floods-on-motorway-set-up-food-kitchens-for-fellow-travellers">isolated groups</a>, along with the immense generosity of <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/these-sikh-volunteers-drove-34-hours-to-provide-a-warm-meal-for-nsw-flood-victims/5a7tjbomu">volunteer organisations</a>.</p>
<p>Yet a sense of horror pervades in witnessing how much has been left to lay people, not only to provide shelter and source supplies (<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-urgent-medicines-in-a-flood-zone-can-be-a-life-or-death-challenge-178300">including crucial medications</a>), but to conduct <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-01/lismore-floods-how-two-blokes-in-a-tinnie-saved-25-lives/100869798">rescue operations in high-risk situations</a>.</p>
<p>Daring community-led efforts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/07/locals-take-charge-of-helicopter-food-and-rescue-operations-in-nsw-floods-amid-frustration-over-adf-efforts">to save people with privately-owned helicopters</a> supported via <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-helicopter-team-rescue-people-from-floods">crowdfunding</a> is a remarkable example of courage and ingenuity, but also a damning indictment of our readiness to deal with extreme weather events.</p>
<p>Those on the ground are tired of being lauded for their resilience. They are resilient because they were given no alternative.</p>
<h2>Who succeeds in crowdfunding? Who doesn’t?</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, those looking on from afar understandably want to help, ideally with immediate impact.</p>
<p>A direct cash donation – along with an encouraging message – can offer a quick, secure, and impactful way of providing aid. And <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7643356/if-you-really-want-to-help-those-hit-by-the-floods-heres-what-to-do/">as journalist Jenna Price observed</a>, starting a crowdfunding campaign on behalf of someone else can be a concrete action to undertake in otherwise helpless moments.</p>
<p>But most folks won’t have a compelling advocate like Price in their corner. As I’ve noted <a href="https://theconversation.com/crowdfunding-when-the-government-fails-to-act-the-public-wearily-steps-up-128924">previously</a>, social crowdfunding platforms are effectively markets for sympathy, where “the crowd” weighs claims to moral worthiness. Such mechanisms create few winners and many losers.</p>
<p>A wealth of research confirms that crowdfunding is often only effective <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1850838">for people with large social networks</a> and the ability <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953617300886?casa_token=9v5Sd75Rgk8AAAAA:seyRQE9diNB0KOugWN-z0fQ21E6jNCCxViI-WKxjoQqa7g5uzG9N0-X3iaqRabFOMyre4u1CW9HI">to craft an affecting appeal</a>. </p>
<p>Most campaigns raise little, if anything at all, which can feel like an injurious measure of life’s worth. COVID <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621004378?casa_token=KX5LvfXPHBUAAAAA:qz1cptTpNcy9UPI_ze-hRjQ3ZXC7yPMgn-CgfoimfwVa-5zvBhaiXDXEUs6EIIMHUM2M3TdZJMTL">only worsened these trends</a>.</p>
<p>An over-reliance on crowdfunding may even exacerbate <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0229760">existing inequalities</a>. Still, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1461444816667723?casa_token=lbc3xYu7Y5QAAAAA:17lBG98WDU5Hz5PLOjo9aPemsR7p263exPJoQvse_w2CO7816r2njPlbpjGxLXydO2566OtXLUypiDg">many have no choice but to plead their case</a>.</p>
<p>As researcher Bhiamie Williamson <a href="https://theconversation.com/like-many-disasters-in-australia-aboriginal-people-are-over-represented-and-under-resourced-in-the-nsw-floods-178420">observes</a>, Aboriginal people are over-represented and under-resourced in the floods. There’s also a strong likelihood they will be under-represented in crowdfunding appeals (but <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/bundjalung-community-flood-relief?qid=282d6b0445aebe6cbe3d7b6dc64f3e2c">here</a> are <a href="https://chuffed.org/project/support-aboriginal-families-of-lismore">two</a> campaigns trying to ensure this does not happen). </p>
<p>So while crowdfunding can be a great method to support individuals directly, consider who may be missing from these platforms, and get behind those agencies looking to help them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-many-disasters-in-australia-aboriginal-people-are-over-represented-and-under-resourced-in-the-nsw-floods-178420">Like many disasters in Australia, Aboriginal people are over-represented and under-resourced in the NSW floods</a>
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<h2>GoFundMe is not an answer to mass catastrophe</h2>
<p>Recently, GoFundMe has become acutely self-conscious about its public perception as a place of desperate appeal, where only few succeed.</p>
<p>In response, the company has made clear it is not an alternative safety net, but rather <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/business/tim-cadogan-gofundme-corner-office.html">a “complement” to existing institutional supports</a>. This, in part, is why GoFundMe is more regularly partnering with charities and non-profits, such as <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/pgj7w-queensland-flood-support">Givit</a>.</p>
<p>This strategic shift was apparent in a frank op-ed from GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan, who said “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2021/02/11/gofundme-ceo-congress-pass-covid-relief-desperate-americans-column/4440425001/">we can’t do your job for you</a>” in urging the US government to offer more substantial relief during the height of COVID. </p>
<p>This, ultimately, is why Dutton’s GoFundMe campaign generated such public backlash. While well-meaning, an elected official rattling a donations tin after a disaster of this scale feels hopelessly inadequate, and a potent symbolic marker of our collective failure to enact mitigation strategies.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding cannot fix these issues. If anything, crowdfunding too easily individualises what are shared existential crises, distracting from our ability to properly reckon with them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-help-people-affected-by-floods-heres-what-to-do-and-what-not-to-178149">Want to help people affected by floods? Here's what to do – and what not to</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Wade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The urge to create, or donate to, crowdfunding campaigns in a crisis is understandable. But it’s worth asking: who can succeed in crowdfunding, and who gets left behind?Matthew Wade, Lecturer in Social Inquiry, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1772042022-02-22T17:13:01Z2022-02-22T17:13:01ZHow authorities are targeting the ‘freedom convoy’ money via the Emergencies Act<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447568/original/file-20220221-17-1z0gfuq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6720%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A camper gets hauled away by authorities in Ottawa in front of a Bank of Montreal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Canadian government gave itself extraordinary powers for a 30-day period to end the “freedom convoy” occupation of Ottawa by invoking the <a href="https://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2022/2022-02-15-x1/html/sor-dors20-eng.html">Emergencies Act</a>.</p>
<p>The situation was especially difficult in Ottawa, where trucks occupied the downtown core and Parliament Hill for weeks. Tensions with residents came to a breaking point after three weeks of incessant noise, shuttered businesses, harassment and disruption of normal life. </p>
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<p>Two types of emergency measures were adopted. </p>
<p>First, the <a href="https://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2022/2022-02-15-x1/html/sor-dors21-eng.html">Emergency Measures Regulations</a> prohibit public gatherings that could “lead to a breach of the peace.” The regulations also ban travelling to such gatherings, as well as providing any type of property in support of them.</p>
<p>Second, the <a href="https://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2022/2022-02-15-x1/html/sor-dors22-eng.html">Emergency Economic Measures Order</a> is aimed at starving the convoy of money and deterring people from supporting its activities. It deprived convoy participants of the ability to pay for gasoline to keep vehicles and generators running, food, hotel rooms, bouncy castles, fireworks, etc. The goal was to end the convoy’s activities so that the city of Ottawa could get back to normal without any need for a violent crackdown.</p>
<p>How did the federal government take away the convoy’s financial resources to force them to end their activities? It did so in two ways: by stopping new money from being sent to convoy organizers and participants, and by blocking access to funds already in their hands. </p>
<h2>Crowdfunding played a big role</h2>
<p>Stopping the flow of new funds means preventing donations from reaching the convoy’s organizers or anyone associated with them. Crowdfunding platforms have been the main vehicle for channelling donations to the convoy. </p>
<p>Until the Emergencies Act was invoked, the only way to stop donations from reaching the convoy was by appealing to the goodwill of crowdfunding platforms, as occurred <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gofundme-stops-payments-1.6340526">with GoFundMe</a>, or by seeking legal injunctions against them, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ontario-court-freezes-access-to-donations-for-truckers-protest-from-givesendgo-1.5776674">as with GiveSendGo</a>. </p>
<p>In GiveSendGo’s case, the crowdfunding platform refused to abide by the judge’s ruling. It claimed that the Ontario court did not have jurisdiction over its operations since it’s based in the United States. </p>
<p>Furthermore, even if GiveSendGo had respected the injunction, donations to the convoy would have just moved to another platform. That’s what happened after GoFundMe froze the funds destined to the convoy; donors moved to GiveSendGo and other platforms, including ones collecting donations in <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canadian-trucker-protest-raises-over-161208767.html">cryptocurrencies like Tallycoin</a>.</p>
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<p>The emergency economic measures now require domestic and foreign crowdfunding platforms to register temporarily with the <a href="https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/intro-eng">Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)</a>. </p>
<p>This means they must provide FINTRAC with information about donations sent to the convoy (or similar activities being organized), no matter the amount. That’s because the convoy i<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/givesendgo-risks-breaking-anti-terrorism-laws-funding-truckers-protests-1679191">s now considered akin to a terrorist organization.</a></p>
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<p>According to Barry MacKillop, FINTRAC’s deputy director for intelligence, crowdfunding platforms were not under FINTRAC’s regulatory purview <a href="https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/new-neuf/ps-pa/2022-02-10-eng">until the Emergencies Act was invoked</a>.</p>
<p>Why such platforms were not already covered by existing rules is unclear, since they are in the business of <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/articles/authorities-were-warned-about-extremist-fundraising-online-but-did-not-seem-to-hear/">remitting or transmitting funds</a>. In any case, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland plans to introduce legislation so that crowdfunding platforms <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2022/02/remarks-by-the-deputy-prime-minister-and-minister-of-finance-regarding-the-emergencies-act.html">continue to register with and report to FINTRAC after the emergency ends</a>.</p>
<p>Once FINTRAC receives information on convoy donations from crowdfunding platforms, it analyzes the information and passes it on to law enforcement agencies like the RCMP. Law enforcement authorities are responsible for freezing the funds associated with these donations, not FINTRAC. </p>
<p>What happens to the seized funds depends on <a href="https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/app-acq/gbs-spm/index-eng.html">the legal proceedings that follow</a>, but convoy donors could lose their donations forever. This possibility is aimed at deterring new donations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A police checkpoint is seen on a busy city street at dusk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447572/original/file-20220221-25-1uofyle.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447572/original/file-20220221-25-1uofyle.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447572/original/file-20220221-25-1uofyle.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447572/original/file-20220221-25-1uofyle.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447572/original/file-20220221-25-1uofyle.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447572/original/file-20220221-25-1uofyle.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447572/original/file-20220221-25-1uofyle.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police work a checkpoint after authorities took action to clear the ‘freedom convoy’ in Ottawa over the weekend.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Will foreign platforms comply?</h2>
<p>What isn’t clear yet is whether foreign crowdfunding platforms are complying with the new requirement to register with and report to FINTRAC (if they collect donations for the convoy), and, if they don’t, how they’ll be sanctioned. </p>
<p>For this reason, blocking access to financial services used by the convoy’s organizers and associates has probably been more effective at starving the protests of funds. The emergency economic measures require financial institutions, payments platforms, funding platforms, digital currency exchanges, etc., to stop doing business with anyone directly or indirectly associated with the convoy.</p>
<p>This includes freezing their accounts for the emergency’s duration. The measures also cover those who provide in-kind contributions to the convoy, like food or gas.</p>
<p>Fear of losing access to their money, even if only for a few weeks, should keep people and businesses away from the convoy and its activities. But law enforcement authorities must play their part. </p>
<p>First, they must collect the names of people and companies associated with the convoy and pass them on to entities providing financial services in Canada (so accounts can be frozen). Second, they need to ensure that sanctions are imposed on anyone in the financial system who does not abide by the Emergency Economic Measures Order.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person walks past a shop that advertises a Bitcoin ATM." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447574/original/file-20220221-28-ffj536.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sign advertises a Bitcoin automated teller machine, or ATM, at a shop in Halifax.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After that, the only way for the convoy movement to survive would be to conduct its entire business in cash. But with accounts in Canada frozen, where would the cash come from? It isn’t likely to come from <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3nw4j/freedom-convoy-truckers-struggle-to-cash-out-bitcoin-worth-dollar1-million">converting Bitcoins collected for the convoy into cash</a> because it’s too difficult to do without going through traditional financial institutions.</p>
<p>Cash would have to come from abroad, especially the United States, where accounts cannot be frozen. Already, anyone bringing more than $10,000 in any form into Canada must declare it. And border officials have likely been extra-vigilant about cash entering the country in the past few days.</p>
<p>The backbone of the convoy’s activities was its access to a steady flow of financing from donors both domestic and foreign. By deterring convoy supporters and participants, the federal government made it easier for law enforcement to bring a relatively peaceful end to an unprecedented crisis in Canada.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Leblond is affiliated with the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en analyse des organisations (CIRANO).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Costanza Musu receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. (SSHRC) </span></em></p>The backbone of the so-called freedom convoy’s activities was its access to a steady flow of financing from donors both domestic and foreign. The Emergencies Act put a stop to that.Patrick Leblond, CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaCostanza Musu, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1761472022-02-02T15:35:59Z2022-02-02T15:35:59ZIs GoFundMe violating its own terms of service on the ‘freedom convoy?’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444104/original/file-20220202-25-l28azv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7779%2C5321&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman stops to take a photo of signs attached to the fence around Parliament as the trucker protest continues in Ottawa. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The truck convoy that’s taken over Ottawa is protesting a requirement that truck drivers crossing the Canada-United States border are vaccinated against COVID-19.</p>
<p>The trucker vaccine mandate is not a widespread concern among Canadian truck drivers. Both the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/trucker-protest-convoy-southwestern-ontario-1.6329118">Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Ontario Trucking Association, among others, have criticized the convoy</a> and pointed out that 90 per cent of their members are vaccinated. </p>
<p>But regardless of what anyone thinks about vaccine mandates, the convoy and its organizers have gone far beyond this narrow mission. In addition to more widespread criticism of pandemic mitigation efforts, organizers and participants have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/freedom-convoy-truckers-1.6329870">called their political opponents communists and Nazis</a>, they’ve waved <a href="https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/nazi-confederate-flags-ottawa-protest">swastikas and Confederate flags</a>, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2022/01/26/truckers-are-flirting-with-extremists-they-should-call-off-their-protest.html">they’ve threatened a Jan. 6 style insurrection</a> against the government of Canada and they’ve abused journalists covering the convoy.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1486793410942062594"}"></div></p>
<p>While the protest movement itself consists of about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truck-convoy-protest-some-key-players-1.6332312">10,000 people</a>, a significant part of its visibility and perceived support is due to a massively successful crowdfunding campaign.</p>
<p>So far, the “Freedom Convoy 2022” campaign hosted by GoFundMe has raised more than $9.6 million from 119,000 donations. As money has continued to pour into the campaign from <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/vaccine-protest-convoy-gofundme-donations-1.6330594">Canada and abroad</a>, its fundraising goal has gone from a starting point of $100,000 all the way to its current goal of $10 million.</p>
<p>Shortly after the publication of this article, GoFundMe announced the <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/taking-back-our-freedom-convoy-2022">campaign is paused and currently under review</a> to ensure it complies with its terms of service. Nonetheless, $1 million has already been distributed and <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/border-freedom-ralley?qid=6c19f2909e0bf91e55b4db8805ffb735">other related campaigns are still up and running.</a></p>
<h2>Money already being put to use</h2>
<p>This crowdfunding success has been covered extensively in the media and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trucker-convoy-freedom-rally-vaccine-mandate/">used as an example</a> of the purported popularity of the convoy and its message. </p>
<p>The GoFundMe campaign organizers have been clear about how important crowdfunding success is to the convoy and <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/01/27/freedom-rally-convoy-has-withdrawn-1-million-from-once-frozen-viral-fundraiser-gofundme.html">the $1 million</a> already released has paid for the fuel costs of convoy participants. The crowdfunding has even implicated NDP Leader <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8542184/singh-covid-trucker-convoy-vaccine-mandate-gofundme/">Jagmeet Singh</a> after news stories revealed that his brother-in-law donated to it.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1488383192524419077"}"></div></p>
<p>Given the importance of this crowdfunding campaign to the convoy’s success and visibility, GoFundMe needs to decide what role it wants to have in supporting it. While the platform <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gofundme-money-released-convoy-1.6328029">did temporarily</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-gofundme-withholding-45-million-from-trucker-convoy-until-plan/">freeze the money</a> raised through this campaign, it did so only due to questions around how the money would be used. </p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/BJdichter">Campaign organizer B.J. Dichter</a> then celebrated this release of funds, saying that the “<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/taking-back-our-freedom-convoy-2022?qid=2d862ce776ace0def9087ee4f9c7d21a">team at GoFundMe have been amazing to work with and we are very appreciative of their support</a>.”</p>
<h2>Terms of service violations?</h2>
<p>GoFundMe could say, of course, that it wants to be neutral as to how money raised on its platform is used and that hosting a campaign does not imply supporting the campaigner’s goals or political views. But it’s important to keep in mind that GoFundMe and other crowdfunding platforms regularly ban campaigns for running afoul of their terms of service. </p>
<p>GoFundMe does not allow campaigns for the <a href="https://medium.com/gofundme-stories/gofundme-policy-on-fundraisers-for-the-legal-defense-of-violent-crimes-975aff8ba5f6">legal defence of people accused of hate, intolerance and violent crimes</a>, it has removed campaigns that spread <a href="https://medium.com/gofundme-stories/guidance-covid-19-vaccine-fundraising-on-gofundme-4e480d7ed17d">misinformation about vaccine safety</a> and campaigns associated with <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/en-ca/c/terms">pornography and sexual content</a> are prohibited. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A protester holds a sign of Justin Trudeau's face behind bars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443847/original/file-20220201-22-1a82oie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester holds an anti-Trudeau sign near Parliament Hill in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Its terms of service include its right to prohibit “<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/en-ca/c/terms">any other activity that GoFundMe may deem, in its sole discretion, to be unacceptable</a>,” giving GoFundMe wide latitude to remove any campaign it desires.</p>
<p>GoFundMe purports to want to be “<a href="https://medium.com/gofundme-stories/how-gofundme-will-accelerate-progress-towards-our-vision-to-be-the-most-helpful-place-in-the-world-b1e60c95009e">the most helpful place in the world</a>.” Its CEO, Tim Cadogan, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-tim-cadogan.html">has stated</a> that the company has “a responsibility to society” and so “we prohibit the promotion of misinformation, or the promotion of hate or discrimination, or using a campaign to bully someone or discriminate, or to promote violence or terrorism.”</p>
<p>But the so-called freedom convoy’s GoFundMe page hosts a cesspool of comments from donors that call political enemies communists and Nazis, threaten violence and promote the QAnon conspiracy movement. Many organizers are associated with <a href="https://www.antihate.ca/the_freedom_convoy_is_nothing_but_a_vehicle_for_the_far_right">far-right political movements and conspiracy groups</a>, including the campaign organizers.</p>
<p>Legitimate questions about the proper scope of government power in a pandemic may have motivated many supporters of the campaign. But this concern has been left far behind in favour of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and more general anti-government grievances, not to mention outright white supremacy and hate.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1488254896906416132"}"></div></p>
<h2>GoFundMe profiting from campaign</h2>
<p>GoFundMe is hardly disinterested in the success of this campaign. While it <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/en-ca/c/blog/gofundme-fees">no longer collects a fixed five per cent of donated funds</a>, it does receive voluntary tips from donors. Five per cent remains a fair estimate of the money made from these donations and, if so, then GoFundMe has pocketed more than $480,000 from this campaign — with more to come.</p>
<p>Making money from crowdfunding campaigns is fine of course — GoFundMe is a private business, after all. But if it’s going to brand itself a positive force in the world that supports kindness, generosity and human rights, then that doesn’t square with hosting and profiting from this campaign.</p>
<p>GoFundMe has already decided that it won’t host fundraisers for people accused of hate crimes and proponents of vaccine misinformation. It’s hard to see why this campaign deserves its support over those others, especially when it’s giving the convoy’s often abusive supporters a larger platform. </p>
<p>It’s time for GoFundMe to decide what it actually stands for in practice, and not just pay lip service to it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Snyder receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>GoFundMe claims it won’t fund campaigns that promote hate or misinformation. So why is it backing the so-called freedom convoy that’s currently causing so much incendiary disruption in Ottawa?Jeremy Snyder, Professor, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1720292021-12-17T13:26:04Z2021-12-17T13:26:04ZConvenient but susceptible to fraud: Why it makes sense to regulate charitable crowdfunding<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437848/original/file-20211215-17-1sa7t78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C2941%2C1922&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman searches through debris near where her Dawson Springs, Ky. home stood before a tornado flattened it in December 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-searches-for-her-possessions-in-a-debris-field-near-news-photo/1359043662">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Within 24 hours of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-southern-us-is-prone-to-december-tornadoes-173643">devastating tornadoes striking six states</a> in December 2021, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear launched the <a href="https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/WKYRelief">Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund</a>. That the leader of the state this disaster hit hardest would immediately tap into <a href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/crowdfunding-nonprofits">crowdfunded charity</a> – raising money from the public directly – to complement relief dollars from official sources should come as no surprise.</p>
<p>Crowdfunded donations have become a key source of disaster assistance – and often raise significant sums. In 2017, for example, football star J.J. Watt quickly raised more than $40 million help people affected by <a href="https://www.houstontexans.com/news/j-j-watt-foundation-announces-hurricane-harvey-recap-and-2018-19-plans">Hurricane Harvey</a>. Following a series of Australian wildfires, entertainer Celeste Barber made a public appeal that eventually raised more than AU$50 million for the <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/200554">New South Wales Rural Fire Service & Brigades Donation Fund</a>. And to date, the CDC Foundation has raised more than $51 million to support its “<a href="https://give4cdcf.org/?utm_source=CDCF&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=combat-coronavirus">Crush COVID</a>” campaign.</p>
<p>What’s not to like about this new way to raise funds for a good cause? Well, as long as there has been charitable fundraising there has been the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-donors-can-help-make-nonprofits-more-accountable-85927">potential for scams</a>.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uplx-M8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">law professor who studies the regulation of charities</a>, as well as a lawyer who has represented numerous charities and donors in legal disputes, I’ve seen that two aspects of charitable crowdfunding make it particularly vulnerable to fraud.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1469814107310280708"}"></div></p>
<h2>Sometimes it turns out to be crowd-frauding</h2>
<p>In late 2017, a New Jersey couple posted an inspiring story on GoFundMe. A homeless veteran, they said, had come to the wife’s rescue after she ran out of gas on a highway exit ramp. Their “<a href="https://abc7ny.com/homeless-hero-gofundme-money-stolen-from-man-john-bobbitt-gofund-me-go-fund/4690185/">Paying it Forward</a>” campaign raised more than $400,000 to help the veteran.</p>
<p>Heartwarming, right? Trouble is, it was a lie. All three of the people involved in this trickery eventually <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/mark-damico-johnny-bobbitt-kate-mcclure-gofundme-guilty-20211122.html">pleaded guilty to federal charges</a> of “<a href="https://www.dicindiolaw.com/what-constitutes-theft-by-deception/">theft by deception</a>.”</p>
<p>Fraudulent crowdfunding can also prey on political sentiments rather than just exploiting sympathy.</p>
<p>In 2020, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands">federal prosecutors charged</a> former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon and three others with defrauding thousands of donors to a crowdfunding campaign for <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-steve-bannon-faces-fraud-charges-4-questions-answered-144834">building portions of a wall</a> along the U.S. border with Mexico. Bannon and his partners allegedly instead used some of the funds raised to compensate themselves and pay for personal expenses.</p>
<p>Although then-President <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/19/trump-pardons-expected-day-before-biden-inauguration.html">Donald J. Trump pardoned Bannon</a> in advance of any trial, the former White House aide still <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/05/25/steve-bannon-officially-cleared-of-federal-charges-after-trump-pardon---but-this-state-probe-still-looms/?sh=1a58e95657c4">faces possible state charges</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Former White House aide Steve Bannon surrounded by photographers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437852/original/file-20211215-21-11nu1cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Steve Bannon was pardoned by former President Donald Trump, for whom he previously served as an aide, in 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Trump%20Adviser%20Arrest/adfe9f3ffd804475a38e7367821b4873?Query=build%20the%20wall%20bannon&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=15&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/Craig Ruttle</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reasons for vulnerability</h2>
<p>Making a special website isn’t necessary to raise charitable funds this way. Some 45 million people donated to or created a fundraiser using Facebook from 2015 to 2020, raising over <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2019/09/2-billion-for-causes/">$3 billion for charities</a>, according the company.</p>
<p>And crowdfunding efforts can help people without <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc506">technically counting as tax-deductible charity</a>. <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/">GoFundMe</a>, a popular charitable crowdfunding platform, lets people raise funds for both personal needs, such as covering medical expenses, and for specific charities of all kinds.</p>
<p>Being fast and cheap to operate makes charitable crowdfunding ideal in some ways, not others. More traditional fundraising campaigns that rely on mailings and phone calls are time-consuming to establish. In contrast, it’s possible to set up a new campaign on GoFundMe that is then visible both nationally and internationally within a few minutes.</p>
<p>In the wake of a highly publicized disaster, when many people are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-select-a-disaster-relief-charity-83928">looking for a quick way to help</a>, everyone – even governors – will want to move fast. Opportunities for fraud are perhaps at their peak.</p>
<p>Compounding this problem: Laws governing charitable fundraising do not clearly apply to campaign organizers and crowdfunding platforms. As I detail in an article <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3686612">soon to be published in the Indiana Law Journal</a>, state legislatures wrote those laws decades ago, when charities raised money either directly or using paid solicitors. As a result, those laws do not usually apply to individuals who voluntarily raise money for individuals or charities to which they have no formal ties. Nor do they apply to the recently emerged platforms where people crowdfund for causes. </p>
<h2>California takes aim</h2>
<p>So far, there’s no regulation taking shape to address these issues at the federal level.</p>
<p>California became the first state to pass legislation specifically targeting charitable crowdfunding when Gov. Gavin Newson signed Assembly Bill No. 488 into law in October 2021. The measure, which will not <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB488">take effect until Jan. 1, 2023</a>, requires both charities raising funds online and platforms hosting campaigns for specific charities to register and file regular reports with the state’s <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/charities">Registry of Charitable Trusts</a>.</p>
<p>The new law will also require these charities and platforms to make certain public disclosures and receipts, as needed. It will also require platforms to promptly distribute donations to the designated charities and obtain a charity’s written consent before soliciting funds for its benefit – with some exceptions.</p>
<p>In my view, California’s new law is a good first effort.</p>
<p>It places the burden of compliance on the charities themselves and the handful of online platforms engaged in this work, not on the numerous individuals who start campaigns. But it remains to be seen whether the registration, reporting, disclosure and other requirements will create enough transparency and accountability to sufficiently deter fraud without over burdening legitimate charities and platforms.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>I appreciate the difficult task legislators face in striking a balance that avoids both over- and underregulation. Lawmakers do not want to overregulate charitable crowdfunding to the point that generous individuals and legitimate charities shy away from launching campaigns because of the legal burdens of doing so.</p>
<p>That is, all new laws and regulations, in addition to discouraging crowdfunding fraud, ought to encourage generosity.</p>
<p>At the same time, lawmakers want to regulate charitable crowdfunding enough to ensure that all or almost all funds raised go the individuals and charities that the donors intend to support. Time will tell whether California and the states that follow its example have struck the right balance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The informality and the speed can be helpful in emergencies. But it’s hard to make sure that money raised in a hurry is used in accordance with what donors expect.Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, Professor of Law, University of Notre DameLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1688082021-10-20T14:30:58Z2021-10-20T14:30:58ZHow women-led companies can raise more money through crowdfunding<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427096/original/file-20211018-19-ujgs5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C124%2C6635%2C4264&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lack of resources and support for women entrepreneurs lowers their chances of success. But this problem can be partially overcome through crowdfunding initiatives by socially validating female-led ventures.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For a new venture to get off the ground, entrepreneurs require resources and support that greatly enhance the likelihood of its success. Unfortunately, there is still a gender gap in entrepreneurship that means <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2021.e00268">women don’t get the same access to those resources</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, while women make up 51 per cent of the global workforce, their representation as entrepreneurs, according to global crowdfunding statistics, <a href="https://www.statista.com/press/p/03_08_2017_the_crowdfunding_center_becomes_statista_data_partner/">is only 39.5 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>To address this gap, entrepreneurship researcher Eliran Solodoha of Ben Gurion University and I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2021.e00268">conducted a study in which we analyzed 2,275 rewards-based crowdfunding projects to investigate the impact of the presence of women entrepreneurs</a> and the effects of social validation on their fundraising efforts. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/communication-central/200909/the-theory-social-validation">Social validation</a> is a psychological phenomenon in which passive people follow or conform to the actions of others within a group. For example, people are more likely to stop at restaurants with many cars parked outside than those with few cars. Extending this idea to crowdfunding, investors are more likely to commit funds to projects with large numbers of backers and shy away from those with few. </p>
<p>Startups are <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/raising-money-crowdfunding-used-last-103000202.html">increasingly turning to crowdfunding to raise financing for their companies</a>. In rewards-based crowdfunding, entrepreneurs seek financing from investors <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/rewards-based-crowdfunding">in return for a product or service</a>. </p>
<h2>Social validation, crowdfunding success</h2>
<p>Social validation is powerful and provides insights into the every-day behaviour of people. For example, <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html?tp=1">research shows</a> that because of social validation, people will often pick an incorrect answer on a vision test — even whey though they know it’s wrong — to conform to the others who publicly picked it.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030592">Additional research shows that participants who read a blog post with fake comments supporting a volunteer activity</a> agree to volunteer for more hours than those who read the same blog with fictitious comments rejecting it.</p>
<p>In a similar manner, potential investors may consider a business venture more attractive when they see others reacting favourably to it.</p>
<p>One of the problems facing women entrepreneurs is that that the entrepreneur’s role is stereotypically <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2009.00296.x">viewed as masculine</a>. Consequently, women-led firms <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-009-9207-5">face more financing barriers compared to those helmed by men</a>. The question we focused on is whether social validation — specifically, the number of crowdfunding supporters — can reduce the gender gap as companies helmed by women try to raise funds.</p>
<p>We conducted our analysis using standard <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/ordinary-least-squares-regression">statistical methods</a> as well as <a href="https://machinelearningmastery.com/a-tour-of-machine-learning-algorithms/">machine learning algorithms</a> that provided a clearer picture of the behaviour of crowdfunding investors. </p>
<h2>The importance of crowdfunding backers</h2>
<p>Our results showed that, as expected, the fact that a company is led by a woman works against it when it comes to raising financing through crowdfunding. However, our results demonstrated that women-helmed companies can overcome this obstacle and obtain crowdfunding support using social validation.</p>
<p>In other words, if they attract supporters, they can obtain even more supporters. The practical implication is that female entrepreneurs should strive to generate initial support, for example, by raising as much financing as possible at first from their own networks.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a striped shirt looks down at her phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427027/original/file-20211018-167588-7bh2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427027/original/file-20211018-167588-7bh2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427027/original/file-20211018-167588-7bh2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427027/original/file-20211018-167588-7bh2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427027/original/file-20211018-167588-7bh2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427027/original/file-20211018-167588-7bh2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427027/original/file-20211018-167588-7bh2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supporters can lead to more supporters on crowd-funding platforms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another form of social validation involves the number of comments on a crowdfunding campaign, which can demonstrate the size and scope of an entrepreneur’s social networks — again a positive sign for potential investors.</p>
<p>Our machine learning algorithms also demonstrated that while social validation helps women entrepreneurs obtain financing, it peaks at a certain level. The results show that social validation will increase the probability of crowdfunding success by 14.5 per cent overall in combination with all other variables that include geographic location, the category the venture is in (health, music or food, for example) and prior entrepreneurial experience.</p>
<p>The lack of resources and support for women entrepreneurs lowers their chances of success, and ultimately leads to the under-representation of companies led by women. As we show in our study, this problem can be partially overcome in crowdfunding initiatives by socially validating female-led ventures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ramy Elitzur does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Can social validation — specifically, the number of crowd-funding supporters — reduce the gender gap as companies helmed by women try to raise funds?Ramy Elitzur, Associate Professor, Financial Analysis, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1614912021-06-04T12:17:51Z2021-06-04T12:17:51Z4 new findings shed light on crowdfunding for charity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403846/original/file-20210601-15-c4pviw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=213%2C91%2C4867%2C3397&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People are mobilizing billions of dollars by chipping in.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/crowd-forming-a-dollar-shape-royalty-free-image/1180365396">Orbon Alija/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Raising money online from a group of donors, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2434615">known as crowdfunding</a>, is relatively new. The term was <a href="https://www.startups.com/library/expert-advice/history-of-crowdfunding">coined in 2006</a> by entrepreneur Michael Sullivan.</p>
<p>But having lots of people chip in to support a cause or <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-rise-of-digital-handouts-on-venmo-and-cash-app-says-about-our-fraying-social-safety-net-146742">help out their friends and loved ones</a> is a long-established practice. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46309-0_10">pooling of contributions</a> has occurred <a href="https://medium.com/@ImpactGuru/12-key-moments-in-the-history-of-crowdfunding-so-far-3f614273d95">throughout human history</a>.</p>
<p>It’s hard to know exactly how much money changes hands today through <a href="https://grasshopper.com/resources/tools/crowdfunding-platforms-kickstarter-gofundme-indiegogo/#">GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Kickstarter</a> and the <a href="https://www.fundera.com/resources/crowdfunding-statistics">thousands of other crowdfunding platforms</a> out there. Without any U.S. <a href="https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/the-regulation-of-crowdfunding-in-the-united-states/15427900">oversight or coordination</a>, gathering accurate and complete data is next to impossible. But there’s no doubt that crowdfunding is on the rise.</p>
<p>Still, estimates exist. Online crowdfunding campaigns are raising more than <a href="https://blog.fundly.com/crowdfunding-statistics/">US$34 billion</a> a year around the world, according to one, up from around <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/05/11/crowdfunding-raised-1-5bn-in-2011-set-to-double-in-2012/">$1.5 billion</a> in 2011. Another source pegs the amount of money raised via crowdfunding in <a href="https://www.fundera.com/resources/crowdfunding-statistics">North America alone at $17 billion in 2020</a>.</p>
<p>Although these campaigns help pay for everything from <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/health-care-costs-crowdfunding-medical-bills/">hospital bills</a> and <a href="https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/03/coronavirus-restaurants-crowdfunding.html">COVID-19 relief for restaurants</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/25/meet-the-students-crowdfunding-their-university-tuition-fees">college tuition</a> and <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/meet-your-next-angel-investor-theyre-19/">launching new companies</a>, little research about it has been done. To <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=plWgMBcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">see which kinds of charitable crowdfunding campaigns garner support and why</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H88n3VEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">we teamed up</a> with other colleagues at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Here are <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/news-events/news-item/new-study-finds-differences-between-crowdfunding-donors-and-traditional-charitable-giving-donors.html?id=354">four of our main findings</a>. </p>
<h2>1. Crowdfunding supports social justice</h2>
<p>Crowdfunding is a popular avenue for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-philanthropy-race-and-ethnicity-health-coronavirus-pandemic-09417e5cec24f50643cd041bbe770e94">racial justice giving</a>, likely because it’s informal, fast and well-suited for smaller and harder-to-identify nonprofits.</p>
<p>As CNN reported, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/10/us/gofundme-annual-giving-report-iyw-trnd/index.html">June 2, 2020, was GoFundMe’s biggest day up to that point</a>. More than 500,000 people used the platform to help <a href="https://apnews.com/article/george-floyd-profile-66163bbd94239afa16d706bd6479c613">George Floyd’s family</a> and support causes related to racial justice and equality.</p>
<p>When we surveyed 1,535 American households, it turned out that a bigger share of Americans who give through crowdfunding (27.7%) and social media (28.6%) said they support such social justice causes as community bail funds and supporting marginalized groups, as compared with charitable donors who use more traditional payment approaches (18.2%). </p>
<p><iframe id="1vVyH" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/1vVyH/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>2. Crowdfunding is popular among younger people and people of color</h2>
<p>We also found that crowdfunding donors tend to be younger, less religious and more often single than donors who support charities in more traditional ways – for example, writing a check directly to an organization.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding donors are nearly six years younger on average than other charitable donors. Just 1 in 3 crowdfunding donors (32.3%) frequently attends religious services, compared with 43.2% of traditional donors. And 45.5% of crowdfunding donors are single, compared with 38.8% of other donors.</p>
<p>People of color also make up a higher percentage of donors to charitable crowdfunding campaigns (39.5%) than other givers (34.5%). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crowd of people overlaid by a computer web" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404319/original/file-20210603-27-132c1qr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When everyone chips in, you can raise a lot of money.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/coronavirus-particles-spreading-in-a-crowd-of-royalty-free-image/1210184156">peterhowell/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Crowdfunding can be less charitable than it appears</h2>
<p>While all crowdfunding that supports individuals and their families might be charitable in spirit, those donations aren’t, <a href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/charitable-contributions/charitable-contributions-you-think-you-can-claim-but-cant/L2XxnoskD">in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service</a>, a form of <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc506">charitable giving</a>. But when these campaigns do support charities, <a href="https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/guidance/charitable-tax-strategies/charitable-tax-deductions.html">giving them money</a> is no different from making a donation by writing a check or charging it to your credit card.</p>
<p>Additionally, we found that crowdfunding donors, for the most part, also give to charity through more traditional means. While 31.7% of the people we surveyed gave to crowdfunding campaigns in a typical year, just 6.4% gave only via crowdfunding.</p>
<p>In other words, people who support causes through crowdfunding don’t constitute a separate pool of charitable donors.</p>
<h2>4. Little crowdfunding aids strangers</h2>
<p>In terms of dollars given away, we found that crowdfunded money tends to support people donors know or who are one step removed – such as friends, relatives and friends of friends.</p>
<p>The average crowdfunding donors give the largest portion of their dollars to a family member or close friend (41.6%), a charitable organization (22.1%) or a friend of a friend or an acquaintance (10.8%).</p>
<p>In comparison, many fewer dollars are given to strangers (5.2%).</p>
<p><iframe id="SjfZP" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/SjfZP/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>No panacea for all of society’s needs</h2>
<p>Crowdfunding has become more familiar to many Americans <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/10/us/gofundme-annual-giving-report-iyw-trnd/index.html">during the COVID-19 pandemic</a> and the economic crisis it brought on.</p>
<p>While crowdfunding has become a popular way to help people and businesses in their time of need, as <a href="https://medium.com/gofundme-stories/helping-our-community-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-147dccd07403">GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan</a> <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2021/02/11/gofundme-ceo-congress-pass-covid-relief-desperate-americans-column/4440425001/">bluntly told Congress</a> in an op-ed, “We can’t do your job for you.”</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Bergdoll received funding as part of a grant from Facebook for the crowdfunding report.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline Ackerman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A research team found that crowdfunding is a popular way to support social justice causes. They also determined that little of this charitable giving supports strangers.Jacqueline Ackerman, Associate Director of Research, Women's Philanthropy Institute, IUPUIJon Bergdoll, Applied Statistician of Philanthropy, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1591972021-04-27T19:40:13Z2021-04-27T19:40:13ZHow crowdfunding campaigners market illness to capture the attention of potential donors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396937/original/file-20210425-23-h390cc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C49%2C2986%2C1450&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/fizkes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Liam’s* crowdfunding campaign page is direct: his “sole purpose is to survive”. </p>
<p>Before his diagnosis with inoperable brain cancer, Liam was a “healthy, fitness and sports minded 44-year-old, [who gave] his time and skills away freely by being a regular at charity events, fundraising for a number of organisations and more recently sponsoring amateur athletes”. </p>
<p>Holly, Liam’s friend, caregiver and now crowdfunding campaign manager, appeals to the crowd: “It’s time for us to come together and help this amazing man out.” </p>
<p>This narrative may be familiar — it provides a window into the high-stakes world of medical crowdfunding. In our <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0308518X211009535">new research</a>, we explore who the people behind these campaigns are and how they work to capture the crowd’s attention in a competitive environment.</p>
<h2>Crowdfund like your life depends on it</h2>
<p>A study of medical campaigns in the US suggests crowdfunding has become a “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1850838">gap-filler</a>” or an entrepreneurial safety net for people without health insurance. Crowdfunding is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/20/when-survival-is-a-popularity-contest-the-heartbreak-of-crowdfunding-healthcare">less prevalent in the UK</a> because universal healthcare is available, but nevertheless, it has helped raise <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k3829">at least £8m for alternative cancer treatments</a> since 2009.</p>
<p>Weak or non-existant reporting requirements make it difficult to know the exact volume and growth of medical crowdfunding internationally. But on most donation-based crowdfunding platforms, medical or health-related campaigns <a href="https://givealittle.co.nz/explore?category=health">vie for being the largest category</a>. A glance at GoFundMe (the platform with 80% of the global market share) reveals the <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/discover/medical-fundraiser">scale and variety of medical crowdfunding campaigns</a>. </p>
<p>While Liam’s campaign raised over NZ$30,000 in three months, many campaigns are not so successful. Indeed, there’s a wide range in the ability of campaigners to capture the hearts, and open the wallets, of the crowd. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-in-the-pandemic-more-than-half-of-americans-have-found-ways-to-help-those-hit-by-covid-19-hardship-146517">Giving in the pandemic: More than half of Americans have found ways to help those hit by COVID-19 hardship</a>
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<h2>Inside medical crowdfunding campaigns</h2>
<p>The majority (71%) of medical crowdfunding campaigns in New Zealand are associated with illnesses, rather than accidents, longer-term disabilities or other health needs. </p>
<p>Most campaigns are not organised directly or solely by the person who is unwell. The overwhelming majority are constructed and managed by a family member, friend or other third party on behalf of the funding recipient. </p>
<p>For example, on New Zealand’s largest crowdfunding platform Givealittle, this <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/16-09-2020/the-uncomfortable-truth-about-medical-crowdfunding-in-new-zealand/">applied to 83%</a> in June 2020. Young adults are more likely to run their own campaigns than those in other age groups. </p>
<p>Despite the importance of the campaigner’s work, little is known about the experiences and perspectives of campaigners themselves. Through first-hand accounts of 15 crowdfunding campaigners on Givealittle, our research reveals campaigners take on considerable work and shoulder responsibilities at particularly challenging times in their lives. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crowdfunding-when-the-government-fails-to-act-the-public-wearily-steps-up-128924">Crowdfunding: when the government fails to act, the public wearily steps up</a>
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<p>Among our participants, the difference in financial success between campaigns was significant: amounts raised ranged from NZ$1,000 to $90,000, but most fell into the $10,000 to $30,000 range. </p>
<p>A majority of people running campaigns said the money raised largely came from friends and family rather than strangers. This suggests it is difficult getting people to donate money for someone they don’t actually know. Funders are often not a faceless crowd at all — they are family, friends and acquaintances.</p>
<h2>Framing illness to captivate the crowd</h2>
<p>Pushing beyond one’s immediate networks and into the larger, anonymous reaches of the crowd means navigating a mine field of social biases about who deserves assistance and who doesn’t.</p>
<p>Campaigners work hard to frame illnesses in ways that resonate. These framings speak volumes not only about them, but about us: the crowd.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding campaigners have to demonstrate that the recipient “deserves” the financial support. This applies to both the illness (or disability, or other health need) and the person or family experiencing them. </p>
<p>This is often done by describing the funding recipient as “hard-working” and “community minded”. Many successful campaigners emphasised the funding recipient had become ill “through no fault of their own”, or as a result of “bad luck”.
This framing establishes the recipient as the subject of misfortune, rather than personal irresponsibility, and therefore deserving of the crowd’s sympathy.</p>
<p>These criteria of “choice” and “responsibility” were seen by participants to affect which illnesses were most readily marketable in a crowdfunding context. While $90,000 was raised for a child with a rare form of cancer in just three weeks, a mother raising money for her child’s anorexia nervosa treatment described the “uphill battle” of fundraising for a misunderstood and often stigmatised illness, raising just $3,000 over six months.</p>
<h2>Burdens of responsibility</h2>
<p>Constructing crowdfunding campaigns takes time and energy, burdening campaigners when many struggle with increased care duties and continuing work commitments.
The campaigners we interviewed reflected on how much effort went into crafting the perfect narrative on the crowdfunding platform. </p>
<p>Work on the campaign didn’t stop once the money came in. Many campaigners described a sense of duty in remaining accountable to their donors, providing updates and assurance that they were using funds responsibly. </p>
<p>We know from existing research that medical crowdfunding campaigns tend to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211695817301101">compound economic inequality</a>. People occupying positions of relative privilege are more likely to be connected to others with the means to donate.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/medical-crowdfunding-supports-the-wealthy-and-endangers-privacy-heres-how-to-make-it-more-ethical-116894">Medical crowdfunding supports the wealthy and endangers privacy -- here's how to make it more ethical</a>
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<p>Our research reveals an additional set of inequalities that appear to be exacerbated through crowdfunding: uneven distribution of time, physical and emotional energy, linguistic skills and advertising savvy — and the ability of particular illnesses and bodies to elicit care from others. This includes the age, gender and ethnic appearance of the recipient, as well as their type of need. </p>
<p>Success is deeply contingent on the skills of the campaigner, the traits of the recipient and the moral sensibilities of the crowd. The uncertainty of whether or not these three things will align can be taxing.</p>
<p>Campaigners and recipients are no doubt grateful for the existence of crowdfunding platforms and the charity of individual crowdfunders. At the same time, charitable donations cannot alleviate the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1850838">wider structural inequalities</a> that propel people towards this time-consuming strategy for meeting life-and-death needs, and which replicate the same inequalities. </p>
<p><em>*Names have been changed</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Baker receives funding from the Marsden Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann E. Bartos received funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlin Neuwelt-Kearns is affiliated with Child Poverty Action Group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Octavia Calder-Dawe receives funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Marsden Fund (Royal Society). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan E Wardell receives funding from the Royal Society of New Zealand (Marsden Fund).</span></em></p>Crowdfunding campaigners appeal to potential donors by describing the recipient as the subject of misfortune, rather than personal irresponsibility, and therefore deserving of their sympathy.Tom Baker, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauAnn E. Bartos, Research associate, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauCaitlin Neuwelt-Kearns, Postgraduate Student in Geography, School of Environment, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauOctavia Calder-Dawe, Lecturer in Health Psychology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonSusan E Wardell, Lecturer, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1547442021-02-26T06:52:59Z2021-02-26T06:52:59ZHow crowdfunding can accelerate Indonesia’s renewable energy development<p>Indonesia’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/254456/number-of-internet-users-in-indonesia/">increasing internet penetration</a> is a boost for <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdfunding.asp">crowdfunding</a>, which gathers small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new business venture. It’s a powerful tool to gather funds quickly, cheaply and easily from the general public. </p>
<p>A study by Statista estimates the value of crowdfunding transactions in Indonesia will grow by <a href="https://www.statista.com/outlook/335/120/crowdfunding/indonesia">3.6% to US$7.5 million in 2025</a>.</p>
<p>Given the huge opportunities crowdfunding presents, we argue that Indonesia could resort to this strategy to fund green projects and help overcome the country’s stalled development of renewable energy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386626/original/file-20210226-15-1l4l4p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386626/original/file-20210226-15-1l4l4p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386626/original/file-20210226-15-1l4l4p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386626/original/file-20210226-15-1l4l4p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386626/original/file-20210226-15-1l4l4p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386626/original/file-20210226-15-1l4l4p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386626/original/file-20210226-15-1l4l4p1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Crowdfunding illustration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/analogica/8661000014/in/photolist-eckTys-bttPAi-WM5jA7-bttQNX-bttQHt-bttPRn-bttPFZ-bttQqv-bttQ2v-bttPVx-9gSuQQ-bttPhB-bttPLF-LnwHLh-dMA4JH-a5Ki5y-bttWSv-pvnKcb-pKFCgJ-pKFCcf-pvnJZ7-pMxeLx-pvnJyY-oQYvGH-oQYwmP-pKFBvL-pKFBTQ-oQVq4f-pMxevH-pvhjZn-pvnJPY-pMxe6z-pvnJFb-oQYvSx-bttVUt-bttWh8-bttVNc-bttWbR-bttWxP-bttRMB-dex7UP-bttVGR-bttRYT-dewYZT-dex24G-dex8LD-bttUL4-dewYeF-dexe2k-dewXm9">Analogica/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Crowdfunding renewable energy</h2>
<p>Renewable energy means less fuel imports and less pollution from coal-powered power plants. More clean energy will come from <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/reference/renewable-energy/">renewable resources such as solar, wind and hydro</a>.</p>
<p>Sadly, Indonesia is moving slowly towards its target of achieving <a href="https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/Indonesia%20First/First%20NDC%20Indonesia_submitted%20to%20UNFCCC%20Set_November%20%202016.pdf">23% of its energy use from renewable sources by 2025</a>. This is partly due to <a href="https://en.antaranews.com/news/165868/investment-in-renewable-energy-at-us136-billion-in-2020">low investment</a> in the sector.</p>
<p>The government’s limited budget has prevented the development of renewable energy in Indonesia, while private players are not interested in entering the sector in an unfavourable investment climate. </p>
<p>Crowdfunding can be used to finance all kinds of projects, including renewable energy.</p>
<p>A UNDP crowdfunding project back in 2016 managed to raise more than <a href="https://www.id.undp.org/content/indonesia/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2016/05/23/undp-s-first-crowdfunding-bring-water-for-life-for-east-sumba-meets-idr-350-million-target.html">Rp 350 million (US$24,800)</a> to build a solar-powered water pump in East Sumba. </p>
<p>Another example is a well-known social crowdfunding platform in Indonesia, <a href="https://kitabisa.com/about-us">kitabisa.com</a>. It collected Rp 500 billion (US$35.4 million) in 2018. </p>
<p>Collaboration with a public figure such as a <a href="https://www.id.undp.org/content/indonesia/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2016/05/23/undp-s-first-crowdfunding-bring-water-for-life-for-east-sumba-meets-idr-350-million-target.html">celebrity or influencer</a> helps, as UNDP has done, using social media to spread information about the project to the public.</p>
<p>An early example was the <a href="https://www.greenhousepr.co.uk/offthegrid-solar-powered-party-trillion-fund/">Trillion Fund</a>, the renewable energy crowdfunding platform backed by fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood. It hosted the UK’s first live crowdfunding experience for renewable energy in 2014.</p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/06/04/retail-investors-growing-as-brokerages-intensify-online-access.html">increasing number of retail or individual investors</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic, the public is highly likely to be interested in investing in a green project if given the opportunity. </p>
<h2>Support from the government</h2>
<p>The Indonesian government should adopt three key strategies to accelerate renewable energy development through crowdfunding.</p>
<p>First, the Finance Ministry should provide fiscal or tax incentives for investors/donors in micro- and small-scale renewable energy projects financed by crowdfunding. </p>
<p>Second, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry should help with advisory and technical assistance to renewable energy investors and developers. This support is particularly important for projects in remote areas. </p>
<p>Equally important is the need to set up an open and transparent budgeting system to track the collected funds. This means investors know where their funds go.</p>
<p>Lastly, communicating the progress of each renewable energy project is key. In the end, people who are interested need to know what happens as a result of their donation or investment. </p>
<p>Renewable energy projects and the government should collaborate with a well-known figure in social media who has a massive number of followers. They can spread the information about crowdfunding a project in a short time.</p>
<p>Eventually, this approach will increase the potential number of investors or donors for renewable energy projects.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Inka B. Yusgiantoro, Head of the Supervisory Board of The Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center (PYC), co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Haryanto tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>With Indonesia’s huge internet users, crowdfunding can be used to get funding faster for renewable energy projects.Haryanto, Researcher, The Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1467422020-10-22T12:24:03Z2020-10-22T12:24:03ZWhat the rise of digital handouts on Venmo and Cash App says about our fraying social safety net<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364597/original/file-20201020-17-1rxdn3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C12%2C4061%2C2951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some people have taken to asking complete strangers on social media for money to cover small expenses.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/vector-illustration-of-hand-giving-money-to-royalty-free-illustration/465059316">helllbilly/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://twitter.com/arikarb/status/1309564728793075713?s=20">A college student</a> pleading for grocery money. <a href="https://twitter.com/PettyEmpress/status/1300375174760538115?s=20">A driver</a> in need of an unexpected car repair. <a href="https://twitter.com/itsthesoftfish/status/1317641616039899136?s=20">A worker</a> out of a job because of the COVID-19 pandemic. <a href="https://twitter.com/jay_jon22/status/1318628317831041025?s=20">A single mom</a> who needs to pay the internet bill to support her kids’ distance learning. </p>
<p>In all of these cases, people turned to Twitter to ask for financial support during the pandemic. Not thousands of dollars. Just a few bucks. Whatever online followers could spare. </p>
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<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=cYOUU4EAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">As a consumer sociologist</a>, I study digital culture and social media. I’ve noticed an uptick in these requests on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, which are made possible by the growing popularity of peer-to-peer payment platforms like PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle. </p>
<p>This diverges from traditional crowdfunding in which official online campaigns are set up for lofty fundraising goals. And it isn’t the same as asking a friend to cover the tab.</p>
<p>Digital handouts on social media that help people make everyday ends meet point to the power and generosity of online communities. At the same time, they represent yet another sign that there are deep holes in America’s social safety net.</p>
<h2>Brother, can you spare a dime … online?</h2>
<p>In America, asking strangers for money <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myth-professional-beggars-and-why-it-endured-centuries-180962726/">has long been stigmatized</a>.</p>
<p>In England, during the <a href="https://archive.org/details/ahistoryvagrant00turgoog/page/n5/mode/2up">16th and 17th centuries</a>, the begging poor were criminalized, with poverty portrayed as a moral failing caused by lack of industriousness. In reality, the ruling class wanted to control the labor market and discouraged government-funded welfare. These ideals of industriousness were shipped to the United States and repackaged as the “American dream,” <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-american-dream-9780195173253?cc=us&lang=en&">the credo</a> that anyone with pluck can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. </p>
<p>The subtext? If you can’t, it’s your own fault. </p>
<p>For these reasons, the stitching together of a social safety net has been a fraught political enterprise, with starts, stops and backsliding through the decades. People in need are often forced to turn to churches, family and the generosity of strangers.</p>
<p>The internet, however, ushered in new ways of asking for money, particularly with <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-crowdfunding-9444">the rise of crowdfunding</a>, the practice of pooling donations from a large number of individuals. The first known online crowdfunding campaign <a href="https://www.fundable.com/crowdfunding101/history-of-crowdfunding#:%7E:text=The%20first%20recorded%20successful%20instance,dedicated%20crowdfunding%20platform%20in%202000.">launched in 1997</a>, and dedicated crowdfunding platforms cropped up online throughout the 2000s.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814558906">Through crowdfunding</a>, people who may not have had access to financial resources can raise money for <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-patients-turn-to-medical-crowdfunding-concerns-emerge-about-privacy-77776">health care treatments</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/20/world/iyw-adopt-together-adoption-crowdsourcing-charity/index.html">adoptions</a>, <a href="https://www.wnpr.org/post/college-tuition-skyrockets-students-turn-crowdfunding-help-defray-costs">college tuition</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/racial-justice-giving-is-booming-4-trends-145526">racial justice</a> and other causes.</p>
<h2>Sending cash with the click of a button</h2>
<p>Peer-to-peer payment platforms like PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle have made it even easier to ask for and receive cash assistance.</p>
<p>Over 60% of American millennials <a href="https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/press-releases/consumer-banking/end-iou-p2p-payments-new-social-norm">report</a> using at least one of these payment platforms, and <a href="https://www.zellepay.com/press-releases/make-room-millennials-zelle-study-finds-generation-x-and-boomers-driving-broader">a new survey</a> from Zelle suggests Gen X and baby boomers are overcoming their skepticism of digital cash transfers. </p>
<p>When friends go out to dinner, they can simply split the dinner bill using the mobile apps. Roommates can use it to pay rent, and vendors can use it to directly charge customers.</p>
<p>But these apps have also given rise to a growing cultural trend: asking complete strangers for money via social media.</p>
<p>The process is simple. Write a social media post about a financial need. Include details for your preferred peer-to-peer payment platform: a <a href="https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/3123-cashtags">$Cashtag</a> on Cash App, a <a href="https://help.venmo.com/hc/en-us/articles/235432448-Check-or-Edit-Your-Username">username for Venmo</a>, a custom <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/">PayPal.me link</a>. Share the post. Within a few clicks, a stranger can stumble upon your post and complete the requested cash transfer. </p>
<p>By design, peer-to-peer payment platforms remove fees incurred through credit card donations or more formal crowdfunding websites. The full donation goes directly and instantly to the person in need. </p>
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<h2>The difference from crowdfunding</h2>
<p>Some might be quick to categorize this practice as traditional crowdfunding, but <a href="https://www.academia.edu/44343988/Social_Media_based_Crowdfunding_among_Marginalized_Populations_Unintended_Consequences_of_the_TransCrowdFund_Movement_on_Twitter?source=swp_share">my research</a> suggests social media-based cash transfers are unique in a few ways.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814558906">Traditional crowdfunding</a> is shaped like a funnel: many donors contributing to one centralized recipient, such as a civic organization or charitable cause. Crowdfunding websites like GoFundMe and Kickstarter provide a central portal for tracking and safeguarding money exchange. </p>
<p>Social media-based requests for money are shaped more like a web: many potential donors contributing to many recipients in one-off transactions. This web of financial requests is sprawling on social media. There’s no website to visit to track the progress of a fundraiser, and fewer safeguards are in place <a href="https://www.adlawaccess.com/2016/11/articles/do-you-venmo-ftc-spotlight-on-peer-to-peer-payments-and-crowdfunding/">to protect donors from scams</a>.</p>
<p>In traditional crowdfunding, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66119-3_8">the financial goals are lofty</a>, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Crowdfunders create formal campaigns with detailed explanations of why they are raising money, how the money will be used and who will benefit. Progress toward a financial goal is publicly tracked. </p>
<p>In contrast, social media-based solicitations allow for smaller, one-time requests, like covering a utility bill. It’s akin to spotting a stranger a few bucks. </p>
<p>This web of financial requests and offers is often catalyzed by a common hashtag. For example, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/settlersaturday?lang=en">#SettlerSaturday</a> encourages donations to Indigenous people and causes; <a href="http://blackyouthproject.com/transcrowdfund-the-radical-redistribution-of-wealth-we-need/">#TransCrowdFund</a> solicits financial support for transgender and nonbinary individuals; and <a href="http://www.emmalindhagen.com/2017/12/adventboost-2017-day-1-showupforwishes/">#ShowUpForWishes</a> provides a space for people to make more general financial requests for things they want – not just what they need.</p>
<p>The hashtags create communities for people to seek financial support. These communities engage in “<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=signal+boost&defid=4480596">signal boosting</a>” by sharing a post widely within and across social media platforms, in hopes of getting more attention. Shares, likes, retweets and cross-posting create more potential for these social media-based cash requests to go viral, which can lead to more donations.</p>
<p>With a steady stream of financial requests coming through social media, individual donors can act as a dam for individuals to survive. </p>
<h2>Living Venmo to Venmo</h2>
<p>But as these requests for money become more popular, what does it say about the lack of public resources for individuals struggling to pay for needs like rent, tuition or surprise medical bills?</p>
<p>During the coronavirus outbreak, people flocked to traditional crowdfunding websites like GoFundMe to try to save their businesses or cover health care costs. Most of these campaigns, however, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/style/gofundme-coronavirus.html">fail to meet their goals</a>.</p>
<p>These larger campaigns have overshadowed the constant flurry of smaller requests for digital handouts on social media.</p>
<p>To me, both types of requests – large and small – reflect a systemic failure to protect citizens facing financial hardship. <a href="https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/article/war-poverty-and-todays-safety-net-0">Government programs</a> like <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/family-income-support/tanf-benefits-still-too-low-to-help-families-especially-black">Temporary Assistance for Needy Families</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/13-million-people-in-poverty-are-disconnected-from-the-social-safety-net-most-of-them-are-white/2019/02/04/807516a0-2598-11e9-81fd-b7b05d5bed90_story.html">food stamps</a> provide much-needed resources to help people make ends meet. But research suggests many of the people most in need <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/13-million-people-in-poverty-are-disconnected-from-the-social-safety-net-most-of-them-are-white/2019/02/04/807516a0-2598-11e9-81fd-b7b05d5bed90_story.html">are often disconnected</a> from the social safety net, as individual eligibility varies and states implement these programs differently. </p>
<p>For many, living paycheck to paycheck has been transformed into living Venmo to Venmo. It would be easy to classify the rise in requests for digital handouts on social media as just another iteration of the “begging poor” – bringing to mind all of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1049732308330246?casa_token=bwV9dLVlcrYAAAAA:OyA3MyXODeFxJUEXlLdaiGG0w8dRWTMPe2vKk_sm4Y8i265WsqUQ2R62g3UpDJrF405sEkY1LQudig">morality myths and stigmas</a> surrounding poverty.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>But it’s bigger than that. The pandemic <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-covid-19-has-exposed-gaps-in-the-us-social-safety-net-138233">has revealed gaps</a> in the social safety net, and the reliance on digital handouts is a microcosm of the <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-recessions-effects-on-food-housing-and">financial uncertainty</a> facing Americans. </p>
<p>Donating to strangers – and asking for digital handouts – is not a bad thing. But the ad hoc willingness of individual Americans to support one another financially shouldn’t act as a substitute for more permanent, systemic solutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Drenten does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The internet ushered in new ways of raising money, particularly with the rise of crowdfunding. But making appeals for cash on social media represents an entirely different phenomenon.Jenna Drenten, Associate Professor of Marketing, Loyola University ChicagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1465172020-09-29T12:30:46Z2020-09-29T12:30:46ZGiving in the pandemic: More than half of Americans have found ways to help those hit by COVID-19 hardship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359434/original/file-20200922-14-1xsurnw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=129%2C75%2C3465%2C2317&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For many Americans, ordering takeout to support struggling restaurants is an unconventional form of giving.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/customer-wearing-a-face-mask-is-seen-order-takeout-at-news-photo/1225395371">Johnny Louis/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Despite facing a global health crisis and economic recession, more than half of all U.S. households – 56% – expressed some form of generosity during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, my colleagues at the <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/covid.html">Women’s Philanthropy Institute</a> and I found.</p>
<p>We also found that 48% of U.S. households had engaged in forms of generosity unique to the pandemic. This includes ordering takeout with an intention to support local restaurants and their employees and paying individuals or businesses for services such as haircuts and caregiving that they could not provide due to strict social distancing requirements.</p>
<p>A significant yet smaller share of all households took part in more conventional forms of charitable giving. Nearly a third of households (32%) did some combination of donating directly to nonprofits, supporting others through crowdfunding and providing in-kind goods – everything from canned beans to homemade masks – to those in need. This share is slightly higher than the percentage (29%) who donated to support <a href="https://www.issuelab.org/resources/34757/34757.pdf">disaster aid efforts</a> in all of 2018, the most recent year for which data is available.</p>
<p>We also looked at how U.S. households’ routine charitable giving – that is, donations they would have expected to make had the pandemic not occurred – changed in the spring of 2020. We found that the scale of this giving, whether through traditional charitable donations or things like giving to individuals or businesses through crowdfunding campaigns and with in-kind goods, was largely unchanged. </p>
<p>These findings are based on responses to questions about generosity in response to COVID-19 that we added to a survey regarding how families make decisions about charitable giving. A national sample of 3,405 households completed the online survey in mid-May 2020. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>While research on generosity in response to <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-generosity-after-disasters-4-questions-answered-103215">previous disasters</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-to-charitable-giving-when-the-economy-falters-133903">economic recessions</a> might ordinarily help experts predict how Americans would give today, the combination of a health crisis and a severe economic downturn cannot be compared with other events in recent history.</p>
<p>Our findings are consistent with other research demonstrating that the generosity of Americans, especially those who are younger and <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/women-give19.html">from communities of color</a>, tends to go well beyond donating money. Younger people were more likely than older Americans to engage in less conventional giving patterns, such as making an effort to shop locally or buy products from socially or environmentally responsible companies.</p>
<p>We also see the fact that people tended to not give less money away during the early months of the pandemic as a positive sign. It suggests that for many households, charitable giving is a habit. In this case, it’s reasonable to expect that Americans who are used to supporting charitable causes will keep doing it despite the challenging circumstances. </p>
<p><iframe id="JsqI5" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JsqI5/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>These findings provide an early snapshot, rather than a complete picture, of American generosity as COVID-19 upended life in many ways. </p>
<p>We conducted this survey before the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/george-floyd-protests-88638">racial justice protests</a> that followed the killing of George Floyd, the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-is-so-intense-it-just-ran-out-of-storm-names-146506">hurricanes that have struck the Gulf Coast</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/coping-with-western-wildfires-5-essential-reads-145965">wildfires that have devastated the West Coast</a>. These events have undoubtedly had their own influences on charitable giving, spurring more <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/07/beyond-protests-college-students-donate-money-to-make-change-happen.html">support for social justice</a>, <a href="https://www.baptistmessenger.com/update-on-oklahoma-baptist-disaster-relief-work-in-hurricane-recovery/">disaster</a> <a href="https://www.bustle.com/life/support-wildfire-relief-efforts-california-washington-oregon">relief</a> and <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/FoundationsBig-Donors/249370?cid=cpfd_home">environmental groups</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>To develop a fuller understanding of U.S. generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic, my colleagues and I plan to ask the same questions in future surveys we intend to conduct at different times with a wide variety of people, ranging from <a href="https://www.privatebank.bankofamerica.com/articles/2018-us-trust-study-of-high-net-worth-philanthropy.html">very rich major donors</a> to folks who mostly donate by chipping in a few dollars here and there through crowdfunding campaigns.</p>
<p>These forms of generosity have existed for a long time, but the pandemic may have made them more visible. We plan to watch how these behaviors evolve.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146517/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tessa Skidmore is employed by the Women's Philanthropy Institute, which receives funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She also serves as Vice President of the Indiana Evaluation Association.</span></em></p>The trend of paying housekeepers unable to do their work and ordering takeout when it isn’t essential can be seen broadly as a form of charitable giving, according to philanthropy researchers.Tessa Skidmore, Visiting Research Associate, Women's Philanthropy Institute, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1448342020-08-21T12:39:07Z2020-08-21T12:39:07ZWhy Steve Bannon faces fraud charges: 4 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353925/original/file-20200820-20-1z7bby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3999%2C3940&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The former Trump aide and others allegedly misused funds donated to build a border wall.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-white-house-chief-stratgist-and-senior-counselor-to-news-photo/1079585016">Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: Federal prosecutors in New York have arrested former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon and three other men, and charged them with allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to an online fundraising campaign to build portions of wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uplx-M8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer</a>, a University of Notre Dame law professor who researches nonprofits, explains what’s going on and what the consequences could be.</em></p>
<h2>1. Who is accused of what, exactly?</h2>
<p>Audrey Strauss, the acting <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1306611/download">U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York</a>, has accused Bannon and the founder of the “We Build the Wall” crowdfunding campaign, Brian Kolfage, of lying to donors about how their gifts would be used. Two other men, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea, are also accused of participating in this alleged scheme.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/steve-bannon-indicted-with-others-on-border-wall-scheme/">Kolfage launched the GoFundMe campaign in 2018</a>, originally calling it “We the People Build the Wall.” With Shea’s help, he sought to raise a US$1 billion to support the Trump administration’s effort to build a wall on the Mexican border. But when the campaign only raised <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/behind-viral-gofundthewall-fundraiser-rising-conservative-star-shadowy-email-harvesting-n957896">around $20 million</a> and it turned out the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/us/gofundme-border-wall-refund.html">government could not legally accept the funds</a>, GoFundMe insisted that the funds be returned to about 325,000 donors. In response, Kolfage launched <a href="https://webuildthewall.us/">We Build the Wall, Inc.</a>, a nonprofit, to receive and use the donations.</p>
<p>To convince donors to redirect their gifts, Kolfage promised that the funds would go “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fund-the-border-wall-gofundme-refund-build-privately-2019-1">toward wall construction only</a>.” The indictment alleges that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/bannon-indictment/index.html">Bannon and Badolato helped Kolfage set up the new nonprofit</a>, and that all four defendants told donors that if they agreed to redirect their gifts to the nonprofit “100% of the funds raised” would be used to construct the wall and that no one would be compensated for work tied to this effort. Most donors agreed to shift their money.</p>
<p>But the nonprofit, the authorities determined, paid Kolfage an initial salary of $100,000 in February 2019, followed by monthly payments of $20,000. All told, Kolfage received $350,000 in compensation he spent on personal expenses, including boat payments, home renovations and a SUV. The nonprofit also paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal expenses for Bannon, Badolato and Shea. To hide these transfers, the four defendants allegedly funneled money through another nonprofit, a for-profit shell company under Kolfage’s control and accounts controlled by unnamed associates using “<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands">fake invoices</a>,” according to the indictment. </p>
<p>The defendants stand accused of lying to obtain money using electronic communications (<a href="https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/wire-fraud.html">wire fraud</a>) and the U.S. Postal Service (<a href="https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/mail-fraud.html">mail fraud</a>). They also stand accused of <a href="https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/money-laundering.html">money laundering</a>, that is transferring funds to conceal criminal activity. Strauss brought the charges because at least some of the actions occurred in New York.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/steve-bannon-indicted-with-others-on-border-wall-scheme/">Bannon pleaded not guilty</a> and will remain in Washington, D.C. on a <a href="https://apnews.com/6119b50079aaf30ba54b8e40bd36033b">$5 million bond</a> while awaiting trial.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1296438759198687232"}"></div></p>
<h2>2. What’s the big deal?</h2>
<p>Nonprofits may legally <a href="https://www.thebalancesmb.com/can-nonprofits-pay-staff-2501893#:%7E:text=Yes.,most%20nonprofits%20have%20paid%20staff">pay their leaders</a>. What the defendants did wrong was lie to donors about whether Kolfage would be paid and how the funds would be used. But of course without those lies, it’s hard to know how many donors would have agreed to transfer their gifts to the nonprofit.</p>
<p>Bannon is a former senior adviser to President Donald Trump, making this a high-profile case with potential ramifications for the Republican Party.</p>
<p>Several prominent Republicans have supported We Build the Wall. For example, Donald J. Trump Jr. <a href="https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1296470804058832899?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">spoke at a fundraiser</a> and former Kansas Secretary of State <a href="https://webuildthewall.us/ourteam/">Kris Kobach</a> serves as the group’s general counsel and sits on its advisory board, along with <a href="https://apnews.com/944c880ea47c94bf7bf43677c831b904">Erik Prince</a> – a major Trump campaign donor who founded the controversial security company formerly known as Blackwater and whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The indictment didn’t name Prince, Kobach or Donald Trump Jr.</p>
<p>Bannon now joins Trump associates <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/20/21377209/bannon-arrested-indicted-build-border-wall-gofundme">Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos</a> in facing federal charges. </p>
<p>The allegations also fit into a larger pattern of Bannon’s <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/steve-bannon-guo-wengui-private-jet-campaign-finance-law">questionable use of nonprofits</a>. In April 2020, Bannon faced questions about his co-founding of two nonprofits with <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/a-conservative-journalist-admitted-to-taking-100000-from">Guo Wengui</a>, a fugitive Chinese billionaire. Bannon was <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/this-is-the-very-expensive-yacht-steve-bannon-got-arrested-on/">aboard Guo’s yacht</a> off the Connecticut coastline when federal agents arrested him.</p>
<h2>3. How has President Trump responded?</h2>
<p>Asked about Bannon’s arrest shortly after it occurred, Trump called it “<a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/former-trump-campaign-manager-steve-bannon-indicted-for-fraud-in-ny/2576990/">a very sad thing</a>” but stressed that he had not been dealing with his former adviser “for a very long period of time.” The <a href="https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1296468544473968641">White House also issued a statement</a> that claimed Trump “does not know the people involved with this project,” which was immediately contradicted <a href="https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1296454156560015360">by media reports</a> and other evidence. </p>
<h2>4. What are some of the potential consequences?</h2>
<p>The federal charges could lead to prison sentences of <a href="https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/wire-fraud.html">up to 20 years and fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars</a>. On top of these penalties, the defendants may have to repay the fraudulently obtained funds to their donors.</p>
<p>It is also unclear what the future holds for We Build the Wall, especially with the arrest of its leaders. It has funded various private wall-building efforts, but those have run into <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/he-built-a-privately-funded-border-wall-its-already-at-risk-of-falling-down-if-not-fixed">structural and legal challenges</a>. Prosecutors have asked for funds in various We Build the Wall bank accounts to be forfeited, which could leave the group without the means to continue operating.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A nonprofit law expert explains the federal case against the former Trump adviser.Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, Professor of Law, University of Notre DameLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1299932020-01-15T13:04:29Z2020-01-15T13:04:29ZShould the government crowdfund a Big Ben Brexit bong?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310244/original/file-20200115-134797-mzqpvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brexit-london-english-european-flag-442486735">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An unexpected debate to emerge from Britain’s planned departure from the EU at the end of January 2020 has been over whether Big Ben should ring <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-bonkers-bung-bob-big-21278133">to commemorate the moment of Brexit</a>. The clock tower of the Houses of Parliament is undergoing <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/elizabeth-tower-and-big-ben-conservation-works-2017-/">renovation</a> and Big Ben – the name of the bell within it – is out of action. </p>
<p>To allow the clock tower to “bong” for Brexit would cost an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/51107756">estimated £500,000</a> – £120,000 on installing the bonging mechanism and a temporary floor, along with up to £400,000 on the cost of the delayed construction work. Not wanting to appear flippant with taxpayer’s money in this instance, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51107646">suggested</a> that the cost could be directly funded by the public. Though none have gathered steam yet, a successful campaign could shake up government financing and set a precedent for future spending on public projects.</p>
<p>The traditional method of tax and spend governance has undergone a process of transformation in the last three decades. For example, Private Finance Initiatives (PFI), where the private sector joined in the provision of public services (with often questionable results), have been around <a href="https://theconversation.com/pfi-has-been-a-failure-and-carillion-is-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-90487">since the 1990s</a>. </p>
<p>Plus, as the <a href="https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf-uk-giving-2019-report-an-overview-of-charitable-giving-in-the-uk.pdf">persistence</a> of charity fundraising has shown, the public is not averse to giving large amounts, so long as they choose where the money is going. One could argue that the opposition Labour Party’s failure in the recent election to make headway on a traditional <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-launches-tax-and-spend-manifesto-j7pgr0ll6">tax-the-rich</a> economic programme, demonstrates a wider popular shift away from taxation as a method of funding public spending.</p>
<h2>Government funding for the future?</h2>
<p>If one discounts borrowing as a way of raising money for governments due to costs (or ideology), perhaps involving the public directly is the best way forward. The phenomenon of crowdfunding private projects took off with the rise of websites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo. Applying this idea to public projects <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2434615">soon followed</a> and civic crowdfunding has been around <a href="https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/crowdfunding-public-services-tapping-into-the-crowd-to-finance-public-projects/">for a few years now</a>. A number of <a href="https://www.localgov.co.uk/Crowdfunding">local government projects</a> have been financed this way. The main benefit is that citizens get to choose directly what and when to fund. </p>
<p>So it would be possible for the prime minister to crowdfund a temporary suspension to the renovation of Big Ben as part of its Brexit-related fiesta at the end of January. There is nothing technically wrong with this, nor is there any legal impediment, so long as government spending (after funds have been raised) complies with relevant <a href="http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/145481/1/Financing%20For%20Society%20-%20DAVIS%20Report%20v.final%20%28small%29.pdf">procurement</a> rules.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310251/original/file-20200115-134768-182osp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310251/original/file-20200115-134768-182osp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310251/original/file-20200115-134768-182osp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310251/original/file-20200115-134768-182osp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310251/original/file-20200115-134768-182osp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310251/original/file-20200115-134768-182osp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310251/original/file-20200115-134768-182osp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Big Ben is undergoing restoration work, which is why it will cost up to £500,000 to ring the bell for Brexit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/scaffolding-around-elizabeth-tower-more-commonly-757133005">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But should the government run with this idea and expand public fundraising to other, larger projects? It is always tempting to policymakers to fund their pet projects without raising taxes or increasing external borrowing. The executive may also have more <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-ioannis-glinavos/trump-mexico-wall_b_14423138.html">flexibility</a> in setting up such schemes, avoiding parliamentary <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/parliament-and-elections/parliament/the-estimates-parliaments-role-in-authorising-government-spending-plans/">scrutiny</a> that applies to other types of funding. </p>
<p>There is precedent of a sort for this. One example of project-specific fundraising carried out by government are war bonds. These, leading up to and during the second world war were an essential part of financing the war effort in Britain and the US. They were also used during the American Civil War and the first world war. They were effectively loans from private citizens to the government and helped alleviate reliance on external borrowing during wartime. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stanley-baldwin-asked-britains-rich-to-help-pay-off-the-national-debt-after-world-war-i-but-it-didnt-work-97125">Stanley Baldwin asked Britain's rich to help pay off the national debt after World War I – but it didn't work</a>
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<p>In the US they also became an iconic part of the home front war effort through a series of propaganda <a href="https://www.history.com/news/world-war-ii-propaganda-posters-photos-united-states-home-front">posters</a>. They were promoted by highly recognisable Hollywood stars of the era and buying these bonds was deemed a patriotic act, a small sacrifice compared with that of men drafted to fight. But bonds, by definition, pay interest upon redemption. Crowdfunding differs in that it is a grant of money from the public that would not be repaid.</p>
<h2>From bongs to Brexit and beyond</h2>
<p>The idea of using something like a war bond to finance targeted modern-day government spending was floated during Obama’s expansion of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03story.html">military operations in Afghanistan in 2010</a>. Could a bond issuance be used to fund a larger specific project, like Brexit or even President Donald Trump’s wall with Mexico in the US? Technically yes, but it all depends on whether enough people can be persuaded to participate in the fundraising. </p>
<p>There is little precedent of this being successful during peacetime. A programme by the US Treasury Department to sell so-called Patriot Bonds after 9/11 <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1220/p14s02-wmgn.html">raised limited amounts</a>. Lack of public uptake could be an embarrassment for a government and even sink a high-profile project. It could also expose thinning support among the electorate for a project, or indeed the government. Large-scale fundraising exercises could also reduce consumer spending, eating into economic growth.</p>
<p>Dangers aside, crowdfunding politically charged projects such as making Big Ben bong for Brexit will be tempting to Downing Street. It opens an avenue for funding that is cheap, politically useful and novel. As the amount sought is relatively small, it could gather enough support to become a successful test case for alternative financing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ioannis Glinavos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Boris Johnson has proposed the public ‘bung a bob for a Big Ben bong’ to commemorate Brexit.Ioannis Glinavos, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1294452020-01-07T06:53:45Z2020-01-07T06:53:45ZHow to donate to Australian bushfire relief: give money, watch for scams and think long term<p>The devastation of the Australian bushfires has generated an <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/bushfire-relief-how-you-can-help-those-in-need/news-story/a0476ac3538b8c373f281ea6be204421">outpouring of generosity</a> amongst Australians. </p>
<p>We have been giving directly to charities such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and others working on the ground to support survivors. Many of us have contributed to appeals such as <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/aussies-rally-around-celeste-barbers-staggering-fire-fundraiser/news-story/b7481dce04dade93f3719bc0acac9e59">Celeste Barber’s</a>, which, at the time of writing, has raised A$42 million for the NSW Rural Fire Service.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308730/original/file-20200107-123373-1x8mj6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">At the time of writing, celebrity Celeste Barber had raised $42 million.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Facebook</span></span>
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<p>Wealthy Australians, like the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/packers-crown-donate-extra-4-million-for-bushfire-relief-efforts-20200106-p53pcm.html">Packer</a>, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/billionaire-philanthropists-donate-1m-to-bushfire-emergency-response-20191227-p53n4b.html">Gandel</a> and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/heartbreaking-kylie-minogue-s-family-donates-500-000-to-bushfire-appeal-20200107-p53pdc.html">Minogue</a> families, have also made large commitments, as have many businesses.</p>
<p>The fact that so many of us have been reaching into our pockets during this difficult time is not surprising. Australia is the fourth most generous nation in the world, according to the most recent edition of the <a href="https://www.cafonline.org/about-us/publications/2019-publications/caf-world-giving-index-10th-edition">World Giving Index</a> and emergency relief is a <a href="https://www.communitybusinesspartnership.gov.au/about/research-projects/giving-australia-2016/">common cause</a> to which we give.</p>
<p>But it’s worth thinking carefully about how to give, to ensure you’re not wasting your contribution or inadvertently making things worse. </p>
<h2>Watch out for scammers</h2>
<p>One thing to be mindful of during times like these, is that unfortunately some people may seek to prey on the generosity of others. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/update/bushfires-and-scams">issued a warning </a>about fundraising scams associated with the bushfires. </p>
<p>If you aren’t sure about an organisation that you’ve been approached by, you can always check whether they’re a registered charity using the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission’s online <a href="https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity">register</a>. </p>
<p>It lists all charities registered in Australia, and details their operations, finance and governance.</p>
<h2>Money usually trumps everything else</h2>
<p>Generally, it’s best to give money. The organisations you give it to can then decide how to use it best.</p>
<p>We may be tempted to give goods like blankets or clothes, but organisations often get overwhelmed by donations of goods. </p>
<p>The idea of donating while also clearing out unused items at home may seem tempting but many organisations don’t have the resources to sort through donations. Often, the goods donated just aren’t fit for use.</p>
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<p><a href="https://dhs.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1893/management-of-donated-goods.pdf">Research</a> by the federal and South Australian governments examined this problem, saying of the 2009 Victorian bushfires:</p>
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<p>The Victorian Bushfires resulted in the donation of in excess of 40,000 pallets of goods from across Australia that took up more than 50,000 square metres of storage space. The costs for managing these donations i.e. three central warehouses, five regional distribution points, approximately 35 paid staff, material handling equipment and transport costs to distribute the material aid, has amounted to over 8 million dollars.</p>
<p>In addition, volunteer numbers reached 1,500 during the first three months provided through over 40 store fronts. Resources in the fire affected areas immediately after the event were severely stretched as a result of material aid arriving without warning and without adequate resources to sort, store, handle
and distribute.</p>
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<p>The report highlighted how this is a consistent problem during disasters, leading to the development of the <a href="https://dhs.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1894/national-guidelines-for-managing-donated-goods.pdf">National Guidelines for Managing Donated Goods</a>. These guidelines reinforce the point that donating money is the preferred way to help out during a disaster.</p>
<p>If specific requests are made for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/northcoast/programs/breakfast/koalas-need-you-to-help-make-them-mittens-and-give-them-blankets/11714410">certain goods</a>, however, then you can respond by donating accordingly. The charity <a href="http://www.givit.org.au/disasters">Givit</a> acts as a broker that facilitates the donations of goods that meet the needs of charities and those they are seeking to help.</p>
<p>Always make sure that what you donate is of reasonable quality. It’s important not to use donation appeals an excuse to clean out items that probably should go in the rubbish or recycling bin.</p>
<h2>Donations after the bushfires are also important</h2>
<p>We’re facing a long and hot summer, with the prospect of ongoing bushfires. At some stage, they will subside and with them the appeals for donations will also end.</p>
<p>But it’s important to remember that even once the immediate crisis has passed, rebuilding after a disaster takes a long time and requires considerable resources. </p>
<p>Governments play an important part but there is also a role for philanthropy both large and small. For example, the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal has a <a href="https://www.frrr.org.au/cb_pages/supporting_bushfire-affected_communities.php">Disaster Resilience and Recovery Fund</a> which makes grants to local not-for-profit groups for community-led projects that address the most pressing needs that emerge 12-18 months after a disaster.</p>
<h2>The bigger picture</h2>
<p>Supporting the immediate response and rebuilding efforts is vital, but it’s also important to consider how as a nation we collectively address the factors which are increasing bushfire risk. </p>
<p>Climate change is <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-bringing-a-new-world-of-bushfires-123261">increasing the risk</a> that we will see more frequent and intense bushfires.</p>
<p>Charities provide vital support to those in need during times of crisis. But they also have an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1037969X1504000312">important advocacy role</a> putting pressure on governments and businesses to change policies and practices.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-are-the-limits-to-charities-advancing-political-causes-71466">Explainer: what are the limits to charities advancing political causes?</a>
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<p>There are many environmental charities doing exactly this, to push Australia toward a more comprehensive response to climate change. </p>
<p>So it’s also worth thinking about how your donation can help support the policy change needed to address climate change and to mitigate the risks associated with it – including more bushfires.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129445/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Krystian Seibert is a member of the Australian Conservation Foundation.</span></em></p>It’s worth thinking carefully about how to give, to ensure you’re not wasting your contribution or inadvertently making things worse.Krystian Seibert, Industry Fellow, Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1289242019-12-16T19:05:14Z2019-12-16T19:05:14ZCrowdfunding: when the government fails to act, the public wearily steps up<p>In a year that began with floods and will finish with fire, emergency fundraisers have grown rapidly, <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/2019">increasing by 35%</a> during 2019. Many farmers seeking relief from extended drought conditions <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/tears-running-down-my-face-farmers-turn-to-crowdfunding-for-support-20180806-p4zvqg.html">have been compelled to turn to crowdfunding</a>.</p>
<p>As for the wreckage wrought by the current bushfires, GoFundMe reported that by the end of November, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6603425743491907584">more than 700 campaigns</a> were launched in response.</p>
<p>Australia is now ranked third globally in donations per capita, with one in ten contributing to a GoFundMe campaign this year. <a href="https://www.fpmagazine.com.au/gofundme-australia-2019-report-372195/">Regional towns are the most generous donors</a>, with Wagga Wagga, Mackay, and Launceston ranking highest.</p>
<p>What’s more, GoFundMe fundraisers specifically <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/2019">highlighting climate change</a> increased by more than 65% in 2019. </p>
<p>And globally, on GoFundMe alone, crowdfunding campaigns <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/2019">have raised over US$9 billion</a> from 120 million donations. </p>
<p>Between bushfires, devastating floods, and a drought with no end in sight, crowdfunding campaigns reflect a weary resolve <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-14/bushfire-emergency-reveals-scott-morrisons-leadership-failure/11797826">amid the perceived inadequacy</a> of government responses to natural disasters. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crowdfunded-campaigns-are-conserving-the-earths-environment-97312">Crowdfunded campaigns are conserving the Earth's environment</a>
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<p>Crowdfunding previously played only a relatively minor role in Australian life. But several recent campaigns illustrate the increasing influence crowdfunding might serve in forms of advocacy and activism.</p>
<p>Volunteer firefighting crews, stretched to their limits after weeks on the frontlines, have attempted to crowdfund equipment and supplies. </p>
<p>In fact, the most successful Australian GoFundMe campaign ever - raising $2 million from more than 45,000 donors - is for the <a href="https://au.gofundme.com/f/help-thirsty-koalas-devastated-by-recent-fires">Port Macquarie Koala Hospital</a>, treating koalas injured during the fires.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1205056561665589248"}"></div></p>
<p>But some close observers within charitable and philanthropic groups <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-08-01/drought-dos-and-donts-of-donations/10057862">still advise</a> donors to consider directing their contributions through registered charities. </p>
<p>One local brigade’s efforts to fundraise better protective masks were met with warnings from the rural fire service against establishing campaigns “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/12/volunteer-firefighters-in-australia-warned-not-to-crowdfund-for-equipment">without the appropriate authority</a>”.</p>
<h2>Not just advocacy, political activism too</h2>
<p>Other campaigns in <a href="https://www.fpmagazine.com.au/gofundme-australia-2019-report-372195/">GoFundMe’s top ten most successful</a> this year reveal that, at their best, such causes can simultaneously serve as direct advocacy for marginalized people and wider activism to address underlying injustice.</p>
<p>An immensely praiseworthy example – and the third most successful campaign this year – is “<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/bfvnvt-freethepeople">FreeHer</a>”. </p>
<p>This campaign raises funds for Indigenous women in Western Australia imprisoned for inability to pay fines (<a href="https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2017/8/2/three-years-since-ms-dhus-tragic-death-in-custody-unfair-laws-remain">such as Ms Dhu</a>, who died in police custody after being held for unpaid fines).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ms-dhu-coronial-findings-show-importance-of-teaching-doctors-and-nurses-about-unconscious-bias-60319">Ms Dhu coronial findings show importance of teaching doctors and nurses about unconscious bias</a>
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<p>The FreeHer campaign achieved immediate impact and sent a resounding message that such practices are wholly intolerable. The WA government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/25/wa-repeals-laws-on-jailing-for-unpaid-fines">subsequently repealed the laws</a>. </p>
<p>Beyond this, <a href="http://andrewleigh.org/pdf/SecondConvictAge.pdf">there are now wider calls to address incarceration rates</a>, particularly for Indigenous Australians, whom Aboriginal activist, academic and community leader Noel Pearson argued are “<a href="https://capeyorkpartnership.org.au/speeches/the-uluru-statement-from-the-heart-lowitja-odonoghue-oration-2018-2/">the most incarcerated people on the planet Earth</a>”.</p>
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<p>Other notable campaigns this year were even more directly political, something previously uncommon in Australia. </p>
<p>Among them were Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/SarahHansonYoung-LegalFund">defamation case against David Leyonhjelm</a>, the <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/fight-the-greens">counter-campaign</a> to “Fight the Greens”, and a few wholly unsuccessful efforts to re-elect hard right nationalist Fraser Anning.</p>
<p>In contrast, Anning’s arch-nemesis “Egg Boy” (Will Connolly) was far more successful – the eighth-highest fundraiser this year – with well-wishers raising substantial funds for Connolly’s legal fees. </p>
<p>When his expenses were covered pro bono <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-29/egg-boy-will-connolly-donates-%24100k-to-christchurch-victims/11159370">Connolly donated the funds</a> to victims of the Christchurch mosque shooting.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/18/jim-molans-2019-campaign-raised-43000-from-online-crowdfunding-sites">concerns have been raised</a> that crowdfunding election campaigns could harm electoral integrity, largely due to the difficulty of tracing the source of donations.</p>
<h2>Who gets a soapbox?</h2>
<p>Conspicuously absent from GoFundMe’s list of most successful campaigns was one that might have otherwise finished on top. </p>
<p>Israel Folau’s campaign against his contract termination by Rugby Australia was undeniably contentious, raising debates around <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-christians-disagree-over-the-israel-folau-saga-118773">theological perspectives</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-israel-folau-case-could-set-an-important-precedent-for-employment-law-and-religious-freedom-118455">employment law implications</a>, or the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-could-the-australian-christian-lobby-be-investigated-for-its-israel-folau-fundraiser-119457">contested functions of charitable institutions</a>.</p>
<p>The campaign’s de-listing from GoFundMe – and rejection from the Australia-based MyCause platform – fed into narratives of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-02/whos-donating-to-folau-meet-christian-supporters/11263502">Christians feeling “bullied”</a>. </p>
<p>Why? Well, GoFundMe and MyCause are private companies, but to many they also represent the public square, presumably open to all. Such companies can act as gatekeepers, barring campaigns they believe may harm their reputation. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most infamous example was between 2014 and 2016, when <a href="https://www.salon.com/2014/09/10/gofundme_bans_all_content_relating_to_abortion_but_leaves_antiabortion_campaigns_active/">GoFundMe banned campaigns</a> directly raising money for an abortion.
GoFundMe later relented, and have <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a28136645/go-fund-me-fight-back-reproductive-rights-campaign/">recently partnered</a> with the ACLU and Planned Parenthood in support of reproductive rights. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-could-the-australian-christian-lobby-be-investigated-for-its-israel-folau-fundraiser-119457">Explainer: could the Australian Christian Lobby be investigated for its Israel Folau fundraiser?</a>
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<p>The enthusiasm of the Australian Christian Lobby to host Folau’s campaign after it was de-listed – <a href="https://www.acl.org.au/pledge_izzy">raising over A$2 million in two days</a> – could also foretell a more ideologically-driven array of crowdfunding platforms. The furore may have even given the Morrison government an easier task <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/14/religious-discrimination-bill-what-will-australians-be-allowed-to-say-and-do-if-it-passes">in selling the Religious Discrimination Act</a>.</p>
<h2>Competing for attention in markets of sympathy</h2>
<p>Crowdfunding can achieve wondrous outcomes, but less heartening is how often it’s needed to correct failures of the state, or suffering caused by private interests.</p>
<p>An obvious example is medical expenses, which easily comprises the most common type of campaign, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-17/gofundme-folau-factor-helped-marko-but-not-raaf-vet/11696444">despite the very low chances</a> of success and threat of further harm.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-patients-turn-to-medical-crowdfunding-concerns-emerge-about-privacy-77776">As patients turn to medical crowdfunding, concerns emerge about privacy</a>
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<p>It’s these heart-wrenching campaigns many pointed to when criticising Folau’s claim he was in “<a href="https://www.acl.org.au/pledge_izzy">the fight of my life</a>”.</p>
<p>Social crowdfunding platforms are effectively markets for sympathy, where “the crowd” weigh claims to moral worthiness. Such mechanisms create few winners and many losers. And suffering can be compounded in witnessing how much one’s life is worth in the eyes of others.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding is a popular tool of recognition and redistribution, promising new ways to govern ourselves and determine what values we hold. </p>
<p>But we must ensure it doesn’t become an altar of “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8675.12166">sacrificial citizenship</a>”, where good people falling on hard times must prove they are uniquely deserving above all others. </p>
<p>Platforms of public appeal cannot be a substitute for good governance and institutional protections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Wade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Farmers seeking relief from the drought and firefighters stretched to their limits have turned to crowdfunding for help. But public appeal shouldn’t replace good governance.Matthew Wade, Honorary Lecturer, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1043722019-10-18T10:21:46Z2019-10-18T10:21:46ZDigital platforms: making the world a more complicated place<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279439/original/file-20190613-32317-1cuwved.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Digital platforms, the websites and apps which compete for our precious screen time, have successfully invaded the traditional territory of many sectors of the “old economy”. They have become the preferred – expected, even – domains for many kinds of human behaviour, from banking and property buying, to dating and entertainment.</p>
<p>In doing so, Airbnb, Amazon, Uber and (many) others have swiftly managed to shift economic behaviour from the world of physical bricks and mortar to a digital world powered by algorithms. </p>
<p>These companies are often praised for apparently providing consumers with ever more choice. But in fact, the fundamental idea behind the algorithms which power these platforms is to reduce the variation of options available. </p>
<p>This is because digital platforms are meticulously designed to appeal to individual users at both ends – sellers or providers, and consumers or users. In theory, this reduces the complexity of decision-making, and increases the speed of digital interaction. </p>
<p>Yet in many regards, digital technology has simply made things more complicated. And there are three main ways in which they have managed to do this.</p>
<p>First, while the boundaries between physical and digital space have become blurred, so too has the distinction between producer and consumer. </p>
<p>This is because social media platforms have given consumers a new and stronger voice. Likes, shares, dislikes, comments and reviews all provide information that was not available in a pre-digital age.</p>
<p>This voice informs both well-known brands and start-up entrepreneurs about how their products are being perceived. Consumers become part of the marketing operation in a way that was not possible before, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963868717300938?via%3Dihub">complicating the way we value</a> products and services. </p>
<p>Second, the ways in which business initiatives attract funding has also altered considerably. Specifically, crowdfunding has become a popular way of raising finance for new ideas or projects, attracting donations through collaborative contributions. And <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162517308600?via%3Dihub">recent analysis</a> suggests that crowdfunding is fuelling a wide array of ideas that go well beyond what would be possible in the context of traditional funding (from banks or wealthy investors). </p>
<p>As new business ventures gain funding and momentum more easily through the digital landscape, they increase the overall complexity of the marketplace. The speed (and scope and scale) at which markets are redefined is accelerated by entrepreneurs who create new offerings. </p>
<p>Third, the digital media landscape has given rise to a plethora of platforms enabled by information and communications technology for the exchange of goods and services. Specifically, the “sharing”, “access” and “community-based” economies represent new ways in which exchanges of goods and services take place on platforms such as Airbnb, Uber and Couchsurfing. </p>
<p>The sharing economy, however, has recently been shown to be expanding into <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162517306212?via%3Dihub">various new sectors</a> including fashion and sports, adding complexity by going beyond the previously dominant sectors of transportation and accommodation.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297501/original/file-20191017-98674-tkdsiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297501/original/file-20191017-98674-tkdsiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297501/original/file-20191017-98674-tkdsiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297501/original/file-20191017-98674-tkdsiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297501/original/file-20191017-98674-tkdsiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297501/original/file-20191017-98674-tkdsiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297501/original/file-20191017-98674-tkdsiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Simple?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/computer-script-programming-code-abstract-screen-241475083?src=83h0MkLEEUjNxBVdPiuNWw-1-8">Shutterstock/BEST-BACKGROUNDS</a></span>
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<p>In light of all these rapid developments, which change the conventional view of what a market-based economy is, there are several serious challenges facing society. </p>
<h2>A simply complex situation</h2>
<p>These concern how we all – consumers, producers, investors – manage communication, privacy and cyber security. Given the nature of the algorithmic world, voices are increasingly raised about the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) for humankind. </p>
<p>But before we even reach this level, the risks are great for the idea of human liberal thought, when the ways in which we are being persuaded are unclear to so many of us.</p>
<p>Consumers, firms and policymakers are already feeding AI-enabled online robots with ever more information aimed at improving automated digital solutions for everyday decisions, issues and concerns. </p>
<p>Can we balance the value generated from such digital platforms with the potential risks? Probably. But concerted action from governments and businesses is needed to enhance transparency about the risks of algorithmic solutions and decisions. That’s the only way we can all be expected to understand this brave new digital world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Demir is affiliated with the Ratio Institute as a research fellow. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christofer Laurell receives funding from the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Sandström does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A call for greater transparency.Robert Demir, Lecturer in Strategic Management, Lancaster UniversityChristian Sandström, Associate Professor of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of TechnologyChristofer Laurell, Docent, Stockholm School of EconomicsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1230242019-09-11T14:34:08Z2019-09-11T14:34:08ZWhy crowdfunding may not be the great democratising force in investment after all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291959/original/file-20190911-190044-1v20ktn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/crowdfunding-vector-illustration-startup-investment-flat-1271931493">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The digital revolution has had a huge impact on the way new and small companies are financed – and <a href="https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/crowdfunding--what-you-need-to-know#what-is-crowdfunding">crowdfunding</a> has been at the forefront. In little over a decade, it has emerged to become an important source of funding for entrepreneurs who are increasingly financing their ventures by attracting small amounts of money from large groups of individuals.</p>
<p>Typically this works via a crowdfunding platform such as <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/about?ref=global-footer">Kickstarter</a>, <a href="https://www.fundingcircle.com/uk/">Funding Circle</a> or <a href="https://www.seedrs.com/">Seedrs</a>, which seek to bring entrepreneurs and investors together. But some businesses make a direct appeal to investors via their own fundraising platforms, such as their website.</p>
<p>Initially, crowdfunding brought great optimism that it would have a “<a href="https://cmr.berkeley.edu/browse/articles/58_2/5812/">democratising effect</a>” on finance. On the one hand it would enable entrepreneurs excluded from traditional sources of finance to attract funding. And, on the other, it would provide new opportunities for people with even relatively modest amounts of money to invest. For example, private investors looking for higher returns than those available with high street banks have been attracted to various lending platforms – also known as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/peer-to-peer-lending">peer-to-peer</a> (P2P) platforms. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334473761_Handbook_of_Research_on_Crowdfunding">work</a> has reviewed the available research on crowdfunding to examine whether this relatively recent method of financing new and small businesses lives up to the lofty claims of democratising investment in the 21st century.</p>
<p>Donation-based crowdfunding platforms have certainly made it possible for lots of not-for-profit projects (such as charity-based ventures and social enterprises) to raise finance from philanthropic investors who are not seeking a financial return.</p>
<p>The types of businesses raising finance from P2P platforms (where lenders provide loans with interest), and equity-based crowdfunding platforms (where entrepreneurs sell a stake to investors), are certainly more diverse compared to those financed by banks, “<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/angelinvestor.asp">business angels</a>” and <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/vcfund.asp">venture capital</a> funds. </p>
<p>But in other respects, we <a href="https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/handbook-of-research-on-crowdfunding">discovered</a> this democratisation idea can be challenged.</p>
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<h2>Bias, geography, skills and risk</h2>
<p>First, the “crowd” has its own preferences and biases. Some types of projects are less attractive than others. For example, consumer-oriented products and services <a href="https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/alternative-finance/publications/shifting-paradigms/#.XXisaShKjIU">work better</a> than science and technology projects. The crowd also engages in herd behaviour – if there is a lack of detailed information and track record for ventures seeking funds, investors will often look at the actions of other investors when making their own investment decisions.</p>
<p>Second, entrepreneurs differ in their ability to access the crowd. This happens in a variety of ways. Often they need to have raised initial finance to get their project off the ground before coming to a platform. Typically this comes from the entrepreneur’s own money and from family and friends. But not everybody has access to these sources. The entrepreneur’s personal networks are also vital, with funding success associated with those who have high levels of engagement on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.</p>
<p>As in the offline world, investors are attracted to entrepreneurs with high levels of “human capital” – skills, experience, understanding of the market – and who are able to signal their credibility, competence and trustworthiness. Entrepreneurs need strong communication skills to successfully raise finance.</p>
<p>Third, crowdfunding has not eliminated the issue of geography. Even though crowdfunding platforms overcome the distance problem by connecting entrepreneurs and investors regardless of where they are, “home bias” is a persistent feature of crowdfunding. Put simply, investors seem to prefer to fund ventures on their doorstep.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291968/original/file-20190911-190065-h4be9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291968/original/file-20190911-190065-h4be9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291968/original/file-20190911-190065-h4be9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291968/original/file-20190911-190065-h4be9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291968/original/file-20190911-190065-h4be9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291968/original/file-20190911-190065-h4be9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291968/original/file-20190911-190065-h4be9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Some P2P platforms are already loss-making and returns for investors have fallen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/crowdfunding-concept-people-inserting-coins-into-1108927925">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And fourth, an emerging concern is that it is no longer just the crowd who are participating on crowdfunding platforms. Both P2P and equity platforms – including some of the UK’s established P2P lenders – are increasingly raising finance from institutional investors, including banks, pension funds, <a href="https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/basics/investment-products/mutual-funds-and-exchange-traded-funds-etfs">mutual funds</a> and asset management companies. </p>
<p>A final concern is the risk that investors are exposed to on crowdfunding platforms. Regulators in several countries are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/09/fca-crowdfunding-peer-to-peer-lending">expressing increasing concern</a> that some platforms give a misleading or unrealistically optimistic impression of expected returns, attracting retail investors with little experience or competence to adequately evaluate investment opportunities.</p>
<p>Because of the small amounts they are risking, investors have no economic incentive to undertake due diligence. In fact, most investors are <a href="https://crowdforangels.com/blog/4th-alternative-finance-industry-report/">reported</a> to spend less than 20 minutes per week doing their homework. Crowdfunding platforms also lack governance mechanisms – with entrepreneurial ventures raising finance from numerous individuals, each making small investments, there is little incentive for anyone to monitor the risks. </p>
<h2>Changing the market for good?</h2>
<p>The UK’s <a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/about">Financial Conduct Authority</a> has expressed concern that because the industry is still relatively new it has not gone through a full economic cycle. When economic conditions deteriorate, this could trigger a rise in losses on loans and investments. Several established P2P platforms are already <a href="https://www.altfi.com/article/5511_p2p-lending-returns-compressed-by-rising-losses-since-2016">loss-making</a> and returns for investors have fallen.</p>
<p>Lord Adair Turner, former chair of the UK’s financial regulation body, the <a href="http://thejournalofregulation.com/en/article/financial-services-authority/">Financial Services Authority</a>, has <a href="https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/02/11/2152940/the-curious-state-of-uk-peer-to-peer-lending">predicted</a> that the losses emerging from peer-to-peer lending over the next five to 10 years “will make the bankers look like lending geniuses”. </p>
<p>Crowdfunding has undoubtedly changed the market for entrepreneurial finance. But, in contrast to the early optimism, it has not eliminated all of the inequalities encountered by entrepreneurs and investors in traditional financial markets. And what is becoming more apparent is that it has created new sources of inequality and new kinds of risks for investors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It has undoubtedly been a game-changer for entrepreneurial finance, but researchers are discovering new inequalities and risks for investors.Colin Mason, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Adam Smith business school, University of GlasgowAnnaleena Parhankangas, Associate Professor of Management in the Jerry and Debbie Ivy College of Business, Iowa State UniversityHans Landström, Professor of Business Administration, Sten K Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Lund UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1168942019-06-26T19:36:39Z2019-06-26T19:36:39ZMedical crowdfunding supports the wealthy and endangers privacy – here’s how to make it more ethical<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281246/original/file-20190625-81770-89gapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C134%2C5910%2C3529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crowdfunding platforms could create opportunities to partner individual campaigns with philanthropic organizations that address background causes of health-care gaps.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Medical crowdfunding is a fast-growing practice in which online platforms are used to raise money for health-related needs. GoFundMe.com, the largest platform for medical crowdfunding, has <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/about-us">raised $5 billion since 2010</a> and is currently <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/start/medical-fundraising">raising over $750 million annually</a> for medical expenses.</p>
<p>People use donated funds for a wide range of health-related needs, including direct medical care, prescriptions, medical equipment and the costs of travel to hospitals. </p>
<p>Donations from medical crowdfunding have allowed tens of thousands of people to afford medical care in a number of countries, saving lives in the process. </p>
<p>However, this practice raises serious ethical concerns around who benefits from it and how it impacts others. Medical crowdfunding is not likely to disappear any time soon. As a <a href="https://bioethics.hms.harvard.edu/person/associates/glenn-cohen">group of researchers</a> who have been <a href="https://www.crowdfundingforhealth.org/">studying this phenomenon</a>, we would like to share some evidence on its less favourable impacts and some suggestions for how to address them.</p>
<h2>Promoting inequality</h2>
<p>Medical crowdfunding is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/20/when-survival-is-a-popularity-contest-the-heartbreak-of-crowdfunding-healthcare">most likely to benefit people with large and relatively wealthy social networks</a> who are media savvy and who can create sympathetic or engaging stories for prospective donors. </p>
<p>If these traits are most common in relatively privileged people, then medical crowdfunding will entrench or exacerbate socioeconomic inequality.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281248/original/file-20190625-81762-7jbi7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281248/original/file-20190625-81762-7jbi7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281248/original/file-20190625-81762-7jbi7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281248/original/file-20190625-81762-7jbi7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281248/original/file-20190625-81762-7jbi7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281248/original/file-20190625-81762-7jbi7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281248/original/file-20190625-81762-7jbi7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crowdfunding is less likely to occur in remote Northern Indigenous communities, such as Iqaluit, Nunavut, where health needs are often greatest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>There is good reason to think this is happening. For example, our research has shown that in Canada, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026365">people crowdfunding for health-related needs</a> tend to be from areas with high incomes, high levels of education and high rates of home ownership.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-one-in-100-nunavut-infants-have-tb-94104">More than one in 100 Nunavut infants have TB</a>
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<p>To address this, crowdfunding platforms should <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/11/facebook-social-good-forum/">create resources to develop crowdfunding skills</a> among campaigners. They can also follow the lead of <a href="https://watsi.org/">organizations like Watsi</a> and highlight disadvantaged groups on platform webpages and use donation pooling to distribute donations more equitably. </p>
<p>These platforms should also create opportunities for groups to assist those most in need and find ways to connect potential donors to such campaigns.</p>
<h2>Masking injustice</h2>
<p>Some people crowdfund because their care needs are not being met through the health-care system or private insurance. Donated funds can help to address these immediate needs but not the issues creating underlying problems and so may make the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2016-103933">causes of health-care needs less apparent</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1107997733632253952"}"></div></p>
<p>Crowdfunding platforms should create opportunities to partner individual campaigns with philanthropic organizations that address background causes of health-care gaps. They can also share anonymized data with governments and health-care providers to identify patterns of need. This information can be used to advocate for reforms.</p>
<p>Campaigners should write about injustices they have experienced that led them to campaign for donated funds in their posted stories. They can also identify groups, political leaders or agencies that can be called upon to remedy these problems. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215805">Journalists reporting on campaigns</a> should also highlight background causes of health-care gaps in their news stories.</p>
<p>Raising awareness of these injustices can be effective in creating change. For example, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-lung-transplant-toronto-1.5061400">Natalie Jarvis could not afford the expense of relocation</a> in preparation for lung transplantation surgery. She faced having to crowdfund these expenses or being transferred to palliative care. Public outrage at this story helped prompt her home province of Nova Scotia to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/health-care-lung-transplants-travel-allowance-1.5111969">increase the travel allowance for this and other treatments</a>.</p>
<h2>Undermining privacy</h2>
<p>Medical crowdfunding campaigners are rewarded for sharing emotionally gripping stories that disclose personal information. They are also encouraged to use the recipient’s real name and share their diagnostic details, health status and treatment needs and plans, even for incapacitated adults and minors. </p>
<p>Doing so comes at a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816667723">significant cost to personal and medical privacy</a>. Browsing through medical crowdfunding campaigns online quickly reveals highly personal health details, images of recipients surrounded by medical equipment and information about their friends and family.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281247/original/file-20190625-81737-3j3v9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281247/original/file-20190625-81737-3j3v9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281247/original/file-20190625-81737-3j3v9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281247/original/file-20190625-81737-3j3v9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281247/original/file-20190625-81737-3j3v9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281247/original/file-20190625-81737-3j3v9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281247/original/file-20190625-81737-3j3v9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research shows that in Canada, medical crowdfunding is carried out by those with high incomes, high levels of education and high rates of home ownership.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To address this potential loss of privacy, crowdfunding platforms should require campaigners to receive documented consent from recipients to share their information where possible. They should also advise campaigners to be especially cautious when sharing information on behalf of minors or adults who cannot give consent.</p>
<p>Campaigners and other members of the public also need better advice from platforms and privacy advocates on privacy issues and how to protect privacy, such as by blurring faces in photos.</p>
<h2>Seeking unproven interventions</h2>
<p>Some campaigns seek funding for medical interventions that are unapproved for use by government regulators or are not scientifically demonstrated to be safe and effective. These campaigns often make unsupported claims about safety and efficacy.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding platforms should encourage campaigners to be cautious about the claims they make when requesting funds for unproven interventions. Platforms could even alert campaigners to the potential risks of such treatments. They should also enable anonymized data exchanges with groups like the <a href="http://www.isscr.org/">International Society for Stem Cell Research</a> and the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/fda-warns-about-stem-cell-therapies">United States Food and Drug Administration</a> to better understand and react to crowdfunding for unproven interventions.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2018/08/06/crowdfunding-for-unproven-stem-cell-procedures-wastes-money-and-spreads-misinformation/">evidence that some businesses selling unproven interventions</a> steer clients toward crowdfunding. Platforms should use lists of problematic clinics or treatments to screen campaigns at risk of misinforming donors. They should also consider <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f2c17eaa-4afb-11e9-bbc9-6917dce3dc62">banning fundraising for specific providers and dangerous interventions</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Snyder receives funding from the Greenwall Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn Cohen has served as a bioethics consultant for Otsuka Pharmaceuticals on its digital medicine portfolio.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valorie A. Crooks holds the Canada Research Chair in Health Service Geographies (funded by the Canada Research Chair Secretariat) and a Scholar Award funded by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Chow White does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Medical crowdfunding raises billions of dollars annually – mostly for those who already have good jobs and own their own homes.Jeremy Snyder, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityGlenn Cohen, Professor of Law, Harvard Kennedy SchoolPeter Chow White, Professor and Director of the School of Communication, Simon Fraser UniversityValorie A. Crooks, Full Professor, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1140492019-04-12T10:40:05Z2019-04-12T10:40:05ZCivic crowdfunding reduces the risk of ‘bikelash’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268873/original/file-20190411-44818-bk86ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Downtown Seattle's busy, protected bike lanes</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdot_photos/15157758178/in/photolist-p6rtqf-p6qT3j-p6qRU7-p6qRw3-e8AmuT-23sKrPg-6rWMnd-REkogH-doqiNA-a5HFcB-a5LwPQ-a5HEir-a5LwL5-a5Lx29-a5HEnH-a5Lwkf-pnUbAY-aqKjWZ-p6qVym-p6qSGu-pnDtEr-pkTLhU-doqiLq-pkTHGJ-pnVJM2-oiSWfS-dopTiJ-doqaAF-KLQ258-2fkBUxg-pnVQxk-doqj1q-dopHTX-dopJ38-a5LxCN-p6rwzw-9T7tLr-ZyEzj6-SE7WuN-doqbtt-doqbXv-9UEKRd-9Rhajt-dWT8ur-aDoe8b-PSAhLE-j4TYe4-doqaMc-cHTZcw-doqc6i">Seattle Department of Transportation</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/bike-share-companies-are-transforming-us-cities-and-theyre-just-getting-started-95267">Bike-sharing</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/bike-share-companies-are-transforming-us-cities-and-theyre-just-getting-started-95267">dockless bike</a> ventures are spreading as <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/02/11/walking-and-biking-are-hurt-by-lack-of-national-leadership-report/">more people get around on two wheels</a>. Cyclists, planners, environmentalists and others are excited to see these initiatives thrive. </p>
<p>At the same time, there are reasons for concern. Nearly <a href="http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/178248.aspx">800 American cyclists</a> died in 2017 after being hit by cars or trucks. Those fatalities were <a href="https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/pedestrians-and-bicyclists/fatalityfacts/bicycles/2017">up 25%</a> from 2010, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. </p>
<p>I’ve learned two things from accidentally becoming a <a href="https://gpc.stanford.edu/kate-gasparro">bike lane expert</a> through my research on community engagement. Transportation experts and bike enthusiasts agree that building more “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21650020.2014.955210">protected bike lanes</a>,” which physically separate motorized vehicle and bike traffic with planters, curbs, parked cars or posts, are a good way to reduce some of these risks. And it looks like <a href="https://www.fundable.com/learn/resources/guides/crowdfunding/what-is-crowdfunding">crowdfunding</a>, raising money collectively and online, helps ensure that local communities will welcome this infrastructure.</p>
<h2>Bikelash</h2>
<p>There are nearly <a href="https://peopleforbikes.org/green-lane-project/inventory-protected-bike-lanes/">550 U.S. protected bike lanes</a>, most of them built since 2013. Not everyone is cheering, though. Many communities have rejected the new lanes, due to hostility toward cycling and cyclists known as “<a href="https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2014/09/why-bike-lovers-should-be-happy-about-bikelash/380219/">bikelash</a>.” </p>
<p>Consider what occurred with the four-block-long <a href="http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_28898059/decrying-vitriol-boulder-council-decides-folsom-will-return">Folsom Street</a> protected bicycle lane in <a href="https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/as-other-cities-build-protected-bike-lanes-boulder-plans-a-rollback/">Boulder, Colorado</a>. Even though the city of more than 100,000 people is among the nation’s most <a href="https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a23676188/best-bike-cities-2018/">bike-friendly</a>, <a href="http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_29117964/boulders-right-sizing-reversal-how-folsom-re-alignment">residents objected</a> to the project over the heavier traffic it caused and shortcomings in the public comment process.</p>
<p>The opposition grew so strong that the authorities felt compelled to dismantle it only <a href="https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/as-other-cities-build-protected-bike-lanes-boulder-plans-a-rollback/">11 weeks after it was built</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268654/original/file-20190410-2905-1cv6ekn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bikelash signs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubrayj02/8595945065/in/photostream/">Umberto Brayj/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The Folsom protected bike lane’s demise was no anomaly. Since 2015, similar objections have also toppled protected bike lanes in <a href="https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/tamalpais-ave-closed-saturday-6-2-for-removal-of-bike-lane/">San Rafael, California</a>, <a href="https://bikeportland.org/2018/02/21/protestors-make-show-of-force-against-odots-unnecessary-removal-of-26th-avenue-bike-lanes-268980">Portland, Oregon</a>, and Manhattan’s <a href="https://patch.com/new-york/washington-heights-inwood/new-dyckman-street-bike-lanes-could-be-removed-report-says">Washington Heights</a> neighborhood. </p>
<p>I’ve found that many places that have avoided bikelash as they roll out new protected bike lanes have something in common: a creative approach to <a href="https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/philadelphia-cites-safety-data-for-bike-plan-decisions">cultivating public support</a>. Instead of encouraging residents to attend public meetings, city officials and local civic groups are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17450101.2017.1408950">meeting community members where they live and work</a>. </p>
<h2>Civic crowdfunding</h2>
<p><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2434615">Civic crowdfunding</a> has become a popular approach for engaging communities affected by local infrastructure projects, including protected bike lanes. It’s a good way for local governments to choose where <a href="https://www.raisethehammer.org/article/2124/high_quality_cycling_infrastructure_saves_money">relatively low-cost</a> but potentially controversial infrastructure belongs. Going this route means that the authorities can back projects that have already attracted some dollars and public support.</p>
<p>Also known as community-focused crowdfunding or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1461444814558914">hyperlocal crowdfunding</a>, it allows community organizations to raise funds for local infrastructure projects from residents and community members. This approach has helped to build neighborhood parks, community centers and protected bike lanes for the past decade.</p>
<p>The practice took off when ioby.org – the first civic crowdfunding platform – launched in 2009. Since then, the thousands of <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2434615">civic crowdfunding campaigns</a> launched around the world on that platform and similar ones like Patronicity.com and Spacehive.com have raised over US$50 million, according to my calculations. </p>
<p>During a <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/S0163-786X20180000042010">four-year study of civic crowdfunding</a>, I found that this collective fundraising technique has been used to support projects like protected bike lanes in non-monetary ways, such as building consensus. This is often a primary motivation for starting the campaign. The buy-in that crowdfunding brings about often proves far more valuable than any help paying the tab.</p>
<p>This happens because community organizations engage community members around the project. They convene discussions about the project in <a href="https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/the-summer-of-demos-one-day-protected-bike-lanes-sweep-across-america/">public spaces</a> and at <a href="http://www.hydefoundation.org/news/2013/11/01/memphis-mayor-joins-efforts-to-build-hampline-bike-path.693746">local businesses</a>. During these events, nearby residents become acquainted with the proposed plans and voice their concerns before it’s too late to change course.</p>
<h2>Public engagement</h2>
<p>This strategy worked well in Denver. Colorado’s biggest city, 30 miles southeast of Boulder, built its <a href="https://denver.streetsblog.org/2015/12/03/mayor-hancock-cuts-ribbon-on-parking-protected-bike-lanes-promises-3-more/">Arapahoe Street</a> protected bike lane after the Folsom Street debacle – heeding what it saw happen there.</p>
<p>Instead of holding a short public comment period, community organizations engaged residents and business owners early in the design process. This made a huge difference. The Downtown Denver Partnership, a local business group, initiated the project based on what it had <a href="https://www.ioby.org/project/arapahoe-street-protected-bike-lane">heard from business leaders</a>. To build on this public support, it launched a <a href="https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/qa-lessons-from-denvers-crowdfunded-bike-lane-success/">crowdfunding campaign</a> to cover $35,000 of the design costs.</p>
<p>“Our mission wasn’t just to raise money for this bike lane,” explained the Partnership’s <a href="https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/qa-lessons-from-denvers-crowdfunded-bike-lane-success/">Aylene McCallum</a>. “Our mission was to build a community that supported this. Our mission was to build advocates in the business community and in the larger community.”</p>
<p>As part of this effort, the group engaged local businesses and residents about the Arapahoe protected bike lane. This allowed the community to debate the project’s design and impacts. The group worked with city officials to redesign parts of the project to address the concerns that surfaced, such as parking spot removals and access routes. This consensus-building exercise seems to have <a href="https://denver.streetsblog.org/2017/07/24/of-course-the-lawrence-and-arapahoe-protected-bike-lanes-made-ridership-soar/">staved off bikelash</a> so far.</p>
<p>People who live nearby have championed Denver’s protected bike lanes, often <a href="http://thingsinbikelanesdenver.com/">alerting city officials to any issues</a> that arise, such as parked cars intruding into the lanes or damaged posts.</p>
<p>Similar civic crowdfunding strategies have worked in <a href="https://www.mlive.com/business/2017/05/patronicity_medc_crowdfunding.html">various Michigan locales</a> and <a href="https://www.locavesting.com/spotlight/los-angeles-taps-community-and-crowfunding-to-transform-its-streets/">Los Angeles</a>. In these cases, government officials have themselves launched these initiatives to rally support for local infrastructure projects. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1115353181494628353"}"></div></p>
<h2>Role of wealth</h2>
<p>But, does this strategy have built-in equity issues?</p>
<p>After all, you might assume that only rich people can crowdfund infrastructure or that these projects will only take off in wealthy areas. So far, that does not appear to be the case. Civic crowdfunding tends to pay for only a small portion of what’s needed, raising less than 5% of the budget for projects like protected bicycle lanes.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/memphis-is-about-to-build-the-countrys-first-crowdfunded-bike-lane/">Memphis</a>, for example, crowdfunding raised nearly $70,000 for a protected bike lane. That covered only 1% of <a href="https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2014/feb/27/hampline-recalls-overton-park-interstate-plans/">total project costs</a> of the 2013 project, which served one of the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods. The crowdfunded dollars helped rally community support and attracted even more money for the project. </p>
<p>Letting communities vote with their dollars isn’t just about budgets. It is much more about letting local residents and businesses know early on about the project and allowing them to participate in a meaningful way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Gasparro receives funding from the National Science Foundation, </span></em></p>This collective fundraising technique helps defuse anti-cyclist sentiment before it dooms protected bike lanes and other new infrastructure.Kate Gasparro, Graduate Research Fellow of Sustainable Design and Construction, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/989922018-07-25T20:40:28Z2018-07-25T20:40:28ZCrowdfunding success and failure: what actually happens during a campaign<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228302/original/file-20180718-142417-iab3b0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C1%2C1270%2C640&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/crowdfunding-crowd-investment-3158320/">Tumisu/Pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Crowdfunding platforms such as <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/?ref=nav">Kickstarter</a> and <a href="https://fr.ulule.com/">Ulule</a> have emerged over the last years as the place to go to get the funding necessary to make projects come true – be it a business start-up, a creative work or a social activity. Many individuals chip in and as a crowd they contribute money to help artists produce their <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/music?ref=discover_index">records</a>, <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/explore/comic">graphic novels</a>, video <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/games?ref=discover_index">games</a>; or to allow geeks to produce a tool to transform <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-an-invention-kit-for-everyone">bananas in a piano</a>, or a set of tools to make <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1687812426/quirkbot-make-your-own-robots-with-drinking-straws?ref=category">robots with drinking straws</a>. More: a project founder might ask for, say, fifty thousand dollars to produce a <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryangrepper/coolest-cooler-21st-century-cooler-thats-actually">wheeled plastic cooler</a>, and receive support for thirteen million, 260 times as much.</p>
<p>What is behind crowdfunding’s success? Is simply <a href="http://amandapalmer.net/">asking for help</a> enough to tap into the reservoir of altruism present on the Internet? Well, it is not so easy. Only about half of all crowdfunding campaigns actually get funded, and the extent of funding varies considerably across projects. Many dismally fail.</p>
<p>What makes the difference to reach the project’s funding goal and what actually happens in the process of the funding campaign? Are crowdfunders affected by the funding decisions of others and to what extent is project success path-dependent, determined by very early pledges? Do project launchers try to exploit the relative anonymity of the Internet to contribute to their own projects?</p>
<p>In a recently published article, we explore these questions using data provided by <a href="https://www.startnext.com/">Startnext</a>, the biggest German crowdfunding platform. Startnext gave us access to its whole database – more than 100,000 pledges to more than 2,000 projects. The answers indicate that it is never too late to get a campaign on a successful track – provided its creator manages to get a surge in pledges rolling.</p>
<h2>“It’s never too late”</h2>
<p>This finding is rather striking. The message of nearly all the early literature on crowdfunding is to “launch hard or go home”: success is predicted by and depends on what happens in the early stages of a project campaign. This is called path-dependence: attracting lots of support in the, say, first day or two, is a crucial indicator of quality, attracts more and more pledgers, and nearly always leads to success. This pattern was considered so strong that dedicated web services appeared (and were later shut down due to legal complaint) that predicted project success or failure after the first day of a Kickstarter campaign.</p>
<p>However, we find that at Startnext a large fraction of successful projects are late bloomers. Let us be more precise: your average crowdfunding campaign starts off with a healthy amount of pledges, levels off in the middle part of the funding phase, and then (eventually) gets a boost in the last few days. Picture it as an inverse S shape. This pattern is closely followed by a relative majority of projects – about 23% at Startnext.</p>
<p>We find that even projects that <em>fall short</em> of this average path to success have a high probability to make it in the end. Nearly 90% of the projects that are under track after two thirds of the campaign still become success stories. Even more strikingly, 40% of <em>severely</em> under-track projects still make it in the end. These are projects that are more than 70% off their targeted amount with a handful of days to the deadline. The key insight of our analysis is that it is never too late in crowdfunding.</p>
<p>But what’s behind the late surges of under-track but eventually succesful projects?</p>
<p>We conducted a survey among projects whose campaigns looked bleak for a long time to uncover what made the difference. The survey responses suggest that the eventually successful projects never give up and increase their communication activities. They interact with the crowd, via videos, blog or social media posts. In contrast, projects that fail to reach their funding goal do not step up their communication efforts along the course of the campaign. It seems important to keep the projects alive and update the community to harness the power of the crowd.</p>
<h2>“Angels in the crowd”</h2>
<p>But this is not the only reason behind the late blooms. Looking closely at pledges, we found that projects that were severely under track do not receive <em>more</em> pledges toward the end of the campaign, but <em>larger</em> ones – more than three times as large than all other project categories. Our survey responses indicate that these large pledges originate from “angels in the crowd”, external investors that look around for promising ventures to support.</p>
<p>Another potential reason explaining the late surges is self-help. Nothing bars project launchers to create a nickame on the platform and pledge relative large amounts of money to make it past the threshold in time. Uniquely among crowdfunding platforms, Startnext allows project creators to fund their own campaign – thus giving us the opportunity to assess the extent of self pledging, something that can’t be done with, say, Kickstarter data. We find that project launchers do indeed self pledge, moderately overall, but with a clear pattern and extreme cases. For some projects self pledges are substantial: 6% of all projects are self funded by a quarter or more of their funding target. Why self pledge? The distribution of self pledges clearly identifies three main motivations: to start a campaign that has seen little action in the first hours or days, to revive interest after a period of slack and to secure funding once the deadline approaches. Nevertheless, the late surges at (severely) under track projects are overwhelmingly driven by external funders – the “angels” – thus confirming that the “it’s never too late” result does not depend on self-help.</p>
<p>To summarize: in crowdfunding, a strong start leads almost universally to success. But the converse is not true: a slow start is no death sentence, as booms can happen at any time. What is the secret of late boomers? Our evidence suggests that even very late efforts at extended communication matter – be it for attracting a crowd or an angel.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98992/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tobias Regner receives funding from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - project number 628902. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paolo Crosetto ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The results of a recent study indicate that it’s never too late to get a crowdfunding campaign on a successful track – provided creators can get a surge in pledges rollingPaolo Crosetto, Chargé de recherche en économie, InraeTobias Regner, Behavioural economist, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität JenaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/973122018-05-30T06:07:15Z2018-05-30T06:07:15ZCrowdfunded campaigns are conserving the Earth’s environment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220881/original/file-20180530-80623-1w2xoxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crowdfunded campaigns to save the orange-bellied parrot are a rare ray of hope.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fatih Sam</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If not for the public’s generosity, the iconic Statue of Liberty might not have the solid and impressive footing she does today. In the late 1800s, government funds for the monument were exhausted. Yet through a fundraising campaign, the New York World newspaper garnered support from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21932675">over 160,000 residents</a> to cover the pedestal costs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-crowdfunding-9444">Explainer: What is crowdfunding?</a>
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<p>Just as large monuments need solid bases to ensure their long-term existence, so too does the environment. In the case of nature conservation, it requires money to support diverse research projects, on-ground activities, and outreach aimed at protecting and managing species and habitats. </p>
<p>While the health of the environment continues to decline globally, in most regions government <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-needs-to-front-up-billions-not-millions-to-save-australias-threatened-species-74250">funding falls short</a> of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24295">what is required to stem the losses</a>. Crowdfunding plays an important and under-appreciated role for biodiversity conservation. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13144">new research</a> presents a global analysis of how crowdfunding, still a relatively novel and minor financial mechanism in the conservation community, is contributing to conservation around the world.</p>
<h2>Show me the money. What’s being funded and why?</h2>
<p>Crowdfunding offers a powerful mechanism for mobilising resources for conservation across borders. We recorded 577 conservation-oriented projects (from 72 crowdfunding platforms), which have raised around US$4.8 million since 2009. The people leading these projects were based in 38 countries, but projects took place across 80 countries. </p>
<p>This pattern has important implications for conservation, because there is often a mismatch between high-priority areas for global conservation and countries with the greatest financial and technical capacity. For instance, we discovered that a third of the projects were delivered in different countries to where their proponents were based. The USA, UK and Australia were the countries with the highest outflow of projects (“project exporters”). Indonesia, South Africa, Costa Rica and Mexico had the highest inflow (“project importers”).</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0" src="https://greenfirescience.carto.com/builder/c1a70aca-e978-4db7-8e1b-063a590dccf9/embed" allowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figure><figcaption>Global distribution of crowdfunding for biodiversity conservation: countries where relevant platforms are based, countries where proponents of projects are hosted, and countries where projects are delivered. (Interactive map generated using CARTO)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Crowdfunding could be supporting conservation work of actors that do not have as much capacity for raising funds. </p>
<p>The people leading projects were primarily from non-governmental organisations (35%) or universities (30%), or were freelancers (26%). Importantly, among non-governmental organisations, we discovered organisations operating at sub-national levels proposed a majority of projects. </p>
<p>Additionally, crowdfunding for conservation is not all about research. While most of the projects we reviewed focused on research (40%), many tackled raising awareness of conservation-related issues (31%) or boots-on-the-ground activities (21%). This expands the sphere of anecdotal evidence and commentary about crowdfunding related to conservation, which has so far revolved around research. For the first time, we’ve systematically unpacked how these funds are being used for additional activities to support conservation.</p>
<p>Crowdfunding can also support innovative projects that traditional funding agencies deem too risky or unconventional. For example, one project supported buying and <a href="https://pozible.com/project/199857">training two Maremma sheepdogs</a> to protect penguins against predatory foxes in southeastern Australia. (That might sound familiar to those who’ve seen the movie <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7AV2ZYlxvI">Oddball</a>.) </p>
<p>Such opportunities for innovation can have important consequences for conservation worldwide; crowdfunding could be considered an incubator for novel ideas before widespread dissemination.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hunting-tree-kangaroos-in-the-mountains-of-papua-new-guinea-20529">Hunting tree kangaroos in the mountains of Papua New Guinea</a>
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<p>More than half of the projects we recorded (around 58%) largely focused on species. These included a disproportionate number of threatened bird and mammal species.</p>
<p>Prominent projects to save <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-14-wild-orange-bellied-parrots-left-this-summer-is-our-last-chance-to-save-them-69274">orange-bellied parrots</a> or Papua New Guinea’s endangered tree kangaroos are important success stories. </p>
<p>This is not to underplay crowdfunding’s importance for ecosystems – whether land-based (20%), marine (9%) or freshwater (4%). Crowfunding is supporting projects ranging from protection of wilderness areas in remote Tasmania to research informing the conservation of the Californian coast. </p>
<h2>Crowdfunding benefits extend beyond dollars and cents</h2>
<p>The amount of money for conservation via crowdfunding has so far been relatively modest compared to more traditional conservation finance mechanisms. However, the benefits of crowdfunding extend well beyond dollars and cents. Crowdfunding helps communicate environmental issues and empower researchers and communities. </p>
<p>The figure below shows the reach of a single tweet during the <a href="https://pozible.com/project/195117">Big Roo Count</a> campaign. It shows how conservation-related messages can spread widely and engage communities via social media.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220580/original/file-20180528-80640-1fmpk6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Example tweet (1777 tweets, 512 users) network during the Big Roo Count crowdfunding campaign.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stuart Palmer</span></span>
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<p>Crowdfunding is an exciting new tool in the conservation toolbox. But, ultimately, traditional funding sources, like government agencies, still have a <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-needs-to-front-up-billions-not-millions-to-save-australias-threatened-species-74250">major role and duty to invest adequately in environmental protection</a> and nature conservation. Considering the current extinction crisis, governments must avoid further <a href="http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/opinionDetails.aspx?id=276">outsourcing of such responsibilities</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220560/original/file-20180528-51115-1cctcjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Examples of conservation projects supported through crowdfunding.</span>
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<p>The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-22/great-barrier-reef-funding-labor-accuse-due-diligence/9785782">discussion over novel sources and recipients of conservation funding</a> continues. At the same time, transparency and oversight remain critical for managing expectations and overall effectiveness of funding. Crowdfunding contributes one more building block to democratising conservation funding and increasing transparency. </p>
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<p><em>The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Edward Game.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:e.gallocajiao@uq.edu.au">e.gallocajiao@uq.edu.au</a> is affiliated with the Society for Conservation Biology. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council, The Australia and Pacific Science Foundation, The Hermon Slade Foundation, Australian Geographic, and Parks Victoria. Euan Ritchie is a Director (Media Working Group) of the Ecological Society of Australia, and a member of the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Fuller receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rochelle Steven receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program, Threatened Species Recovery Hub.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Morrison receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carla Archibald and Rachel Friedman do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When environmental needs outstrip government funds, people power steps up.Eduardo Gallo-Cajiao, PhD Candidate, The University of QueenslandCarla Archibald, PhD Candidate, Conservation Science, The University of QueenslandEuan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityRachel Friedman, PhD Candidate, The University of QueenslandRichard Fuller, Professor in Biodiversity and Conservation, The University of QueenslandRochelle Steven, Postdoctoral Researcher, The University of QueenslandTiffany Morrison, Principal Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.